Grimm Hour
by Kinnakoa
Summary: Jaune Arc arrives at Beacon, ready to start his new school career and get his life on track. When the clock strikes midnight, Jaune is sucked into a world populated by monsters called Shadows, and the brave Persona-users that fight them. Desperate to find a way to fight, Jaune must learn how to establish relationships and help his friends all while staying afloat at school.
1. Chapter 1

"Welcome... to the Velvet Room."

A young man with bright blond hair and pale skin slowly opened his eyes. He was still half-asleep, barely acknowledging his surroundings. He took in, briefly, a room in calming purple and blue hues... before he closed his eyes and began to drift back to unconsciousness.

"Yeah mom, pancakes sound good..."

The room was a classroom, and the young man was leaning back in his desk, head tilted back as he calmly slept. A well-kept man with short green hair and glasses sat behind the teacher's desk, and sighed. He looked to the classroom door and gestured a hand. It opened, and a stern-looking blond with glasses stepped in. Her hair was put up and kept perfectly in place by a series of pins, and she wore black thin rimmed glasses. Her shirt was white, and her pencil skirt was indigo-colored. Her stilletos clacked on the floor as she entered.

"Glynda, if you would be so kind." His voice was calm. An open palm gestured to the seated boy, and Glynda nodded.

"Of course."

She made her way across the room and to the boy's desk. Then she pulled a small thin stick seemingly out of thing air, and held it above the boy with one hand.

-CRACK-

She brought the stick down on the boy's desk, causing a snap so loud that he immediately jolted awake. He found himself looking around in alarm and panic, staring up at Glynda with confusion and awe. Then he looked to the green-haired man who was staring intently across steepled fingers.

"I-uh-I didn't do it! They pressured me to! I didn't even-"

-CRACK-

The boy promptly shut up, placing his hands over his ears. Glynda stared down at him across her glasses, and he closed his eyes and clinched every part of his body.

"Mister Arc, so glad of you to finally join us. This... is the Velvet Room."

The young man looked around him and for the first time truly took in his surroundings. He was seated at a desk in the back of the classroom, with rows of other desks around him. A few desks were shoved off to the side or toppled over in a rag-tag manner, but there were at least 6 others that were standing upright and in file. He finally took in the appearance of Glynda and Ozpin, and noticed a large blackboard in the back of the room. Across it, in plain white letters, all capitalized and very cleanly written, was the word 'BEGINNING'.

"Uh... hi? Did I fall asleep during class? Man, I don't even remember making it to school today..."

"No, Mister Arc. Or at least, not yet. You see, this is a place between mind and matter. A place between dream and reality. It is a place where only those who are bound by a contract may enter. I have summoned you here so we could discuss your future. In the real world, as it were, you are merely asleep."

"The... future?"

Glynda clacked her way back to the man's side. She stood, arms crossed, staring sternly at the boy.

"Correct. My name is Ozpin. A pleasure, I'm sure. The upcoming months are certain to provide an... interesting development to your story. Should you fail to fulfill your role in this narrative, then I'm afraid your story may come to an abrupt and unsatisfying end. It is my role to guide our guests and ensure that this does not happen."

He gestures to the woman next to him. She lightly raised her stick, and the young man flinched in response.

"This is Glynda. Like me, she is a resident here. She will guide you through your story, albeit in her own way."

"Be sure to stay on your best behavior, and I may very well be able to help shape your narrative into something worth discussing."

"R-right. I'm Jaune. Nice to meetcha." He shuffled in his seat slightly, taking another moment to look around the room - or at least, to not have to meet the gaze of the two strange people infront of him.

"We can attend to the specifics at a later date." Ozpin adjusted his glasses and leaned back in his seat, now holding a mug that Jaune could see the steam coming out of. "Until then, farewell."

Saturday, April 7th

The railway to Beacon academy bumped slightly, jarring Jaune from his sleep. He was with a small number of other students, most his age, in the well-lit traincar. Outside he could see that it was night, and the city of Vale was lighting up the sky. In the distance, he followed the tracks to see their final destination - a large green clocktower stretching out over the rest of the city.

Beacon Academy.

 _I must have been asleep a long time..._ Jaune realized he didn't even remember most of the train ride here. Which was probably for the best, he figured, as Jaune was quite prone to-

"Hrph!"

Jaune felt his stomach do a triple backflip summersault into a handstand and he immediately stood up to rush to the nearest lavatory. He pushed past a few other students, and nearly ran into a small girl with an oversized bright red hoodie. She was on her cellphone and didn't notice him at first, but right as he was about to collide with her she nimbly sidestepped without paying him a second thought.

He slammed open the door to the lavatory and promptly lost his dinner. From outside he could hear her conversation. "Umm... I think someone just blew chunks on the train. Yeah, guess it is kinda stressful. Umm.. yeah! I'm going to meet her after we get-" he heard her voice vanish as she walked away from the bathroom.

"Oh boy... *hrph*." Juane flushed and washed his face briefly. _Right, first impression on the way to Beacon and it's as vomit boy. We're off to a great start._ He stood in the bathroom and corrected his wardrobe quickly before stepping out into the train. The few people still on the train were staring at him, but the red-hooded girl was sitting in a back corner talking on her phone.

He flushed red and gave what he hoped was a casual wave to his audience, then put his hands in his pockets and strolled back over to his seat. He glanced back out the window to see that Beacon was positively looming on them now. They would be stopping at the station right outside the school any minute.

"This is our last stop, Beacon Academy. Please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark."

The automated voice chimed out, immediately followed by the shuffle of the other passengers grabbing their things. Jaune checked for his few meager things; cellphone, backpack, suitcase... he seemed all set. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. As the doors cracked open, Jaune stepped into the station and prepared for his new life at Beacon.


	2. Chapter 2

Jaune checked his phone as he left the train to find a single new message. It sat there at the top of his screen, and he popped it open with a touch.

[Good Luck! We have such high hopes for you. Just promise us you'll take responsibility for your actions. - Dad]

He sighed, texting back quickly with an 'I promise'. He dragged his suitcase and looked around the station. Signs clearly pointed him where he needed to go, and he stepped his way out of the station and onto well-lit nighttime streets of Vale. The other students walked toward different cars that were waiting to pick them up and take them to their dorms.

One such car was apparently a limo, and the girl in the red hoodie was standing outside of it, talking to... an absolute angel. She had long luscious hair the color of an angel's feathers tied back in a perfect ponytail. She wore a white dress crafted by the gods specifically for her body, which was short enough to show just a bit of the divine legs that lead down to perfectly cleaned white boots.

Jaune stood staring at her for a solid moment, mouth agape. He started to walk towards them. One of the drivers of the vehicles seemed to be looking at him questioningly, but Jaune was oblivious. All of the cars that were transporting students left one by one. By the time Jaune realized that was his ride, he was too late.

"W-wait! Crap! No!" He shouted, but they were already headed well down the streets of the city toward Beacon. "Shoot... Guess I'm hoofing it. Unless..." He turned back to the girl in red and the girl in white and started walking toward them, until he realized that their conversation had spiraled out into an argument. It seemed to be mostly one-sided, with his precious angel berating the other poor girl. "Uhh... guess it's not a good time. Nevermind."

Jaune looked up at the clocktower and started walking down the street toward Beacon. At least this way he got a good look at the city of Vale. He passed by cafes, small business buildings, shops for food, medicine, herbal remedies, tarot readings... he kept moving at a pretty simple pace. Despite the fact that it was the dead of night, the well-lit city of Vale left Jaune feeling pretty calm.

He heard the toll of the clocktower in the distance, and watched as it turned to midnight. The first few chimes were followed by dead silence. Not the silence of a night in the city, but a truly unnerving absence of sound that chilled Jaune to his core. This was followed by every light in the city going out all at once.

"Wh-wha-hey!" He looked around in panic as his eyes suddenly were forced to adjust to the new sudden blackness surrounding him. The only source of light was the suddenly very bright moon in the sky, a sickly yellow that haloed the top of the clocktower. He was standing infront of a general store called 'From Dust Til' Dawn', which he swore was red brick a moment ago but now was a sickly green color.

He was also fairly certain that the walls hadn't always had blood pouring out of them in bright red rivulets onto the street.

"Wh-what the heck?!" He looked down the street and saw a sillouette standing on the sidewalk a couple of blocks away. "R-right, maybe that guy will help." He ran towards the figure at full speed, leaving his suitcase behind, his heart racing. As he got closer, though, he realized he wasn't staring at a person at all. "I-is this a freaking coffin! IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET? WHAT THE HECK!"

He stood there, panicking, looking left and right at the strange transformation that had just undertaken the city of Vale. "Ok Jaune-y boy, deep breaths. Maybe this is just a... a prank! Yeah, they're just here to get all the kids joining the school to freak out a bit. Yeah! That must be-"

A loud screech pierced the air. Jaune nearly pissed himself as his head whipped around for the source of the noise. A large winged creature, the size of a car, was slowly descending toward him from the sky. It looked like a giant raven, save where its face would be was a bright blue mask with the number 0 on the top and two burning red eyes poking through the holes. A vicious looking beak poked through the mask, open wide. The creature was staring right at him.

"Ohhhh crap, oh crap, oh crapohcrapohcrapohcrap!" Jaune began to sprint away from the coffin, and the large bird continued its relentless descent. As he ran, he spotted more coffins propped up in alleys and on street corners. He turned over his head to see the creature getting ever closer, no matter how fast he ran. "It's... it's gonna get me!" He slid down onto his knees and put his hands over his head, and prayed that something would save him.

He heard footsteps rapidly approaching. They rushed up next to him and he was sure someone was directly behind him, but his terror stopped him from opening his eyes.

"Per... son...a."

He heard a girl's voice, from right behind him, followed by the sound of a gun being fired. He jolted up and turned around to see the red-hoodied girl standing between him and the bird demon. She was holding a pistol to her head, her other hand was holding that long thin black box he saw on the train. Blue fog was emanating out of her body, and a large humanoid figure was floating in the air directly behind her.

It had a very vibrant, crimson-colored cloak that covered most of its face and billowed far out behind it. The right half of its body was largely concealed by the cloak, and the left hand held a gargantuan sword with a wicked curve to it. Its body looked to be made of marble, with every part outside of the cloak looking like a nude statue. Certain joints were accentuated in silver, giving an almost armor-like appearance to the wrists, groin, and shins. A single red eye poked out from beneath the cloak, set agaist a marble white face.

The bird dove at the girl, and the red-cloaked being spun its sword in

a huge overhead arc. The blade collided with the top of the bird's head, smashing it into the street, causing the ground beneath Jaune's feet to shake. He backed away from the battle on his hand's and knees, doing a reverse crab-walk and shuffling behind a mailbox.

He looked over his shoulder to see the raven rise up and strike at the creature floating above the girl's head, but it promptly vanished as soon as it had appeared. The girl had to dodge-roll out of the way to avoid being impaled by the demon's beak. As she came up, she put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger again.

"Go get'em, Tyr!"

At the sound of a gunshot, the humanoid creature floated infront of her once more. It used the right side of its cloak-obscured body to shoulder tackle into the raven, then brought its sword around in a wide one-handed swing. The raven reeled from the impact, smashing into the side of a nearby office building. The bird took a few more hits before opening its wings wide. It shot an array of dart-like feathers into the area, and Jaune ducked behind the mailbox again to avoid being hit. He saw the feathers stab into the street on either side of him.

"C-crap!" He turned back around to see the girl had a few of the feathers sticking out of her, and she was looking run down. Her movements were more sluggish as she continued to summon that... thing to fight the bird monster. She was still carrying the thin black box, using it as a shield and to smack at the creature every now and then.

"Ruby, use wind attacks!" He heard another girl's voice coming from down the street. "That's its weakness! Use wind!"

"Got it!" She pulled the trigger again, and this time the humanoid creature spun in a circle and raised its sword-wielding arm high. "Garu!" she shouted, and a torrent of air began to spin under the monster. It lifted the creature up in a gust, and the bird desperately tried to adjust itself with its wings. It failed.

It slammed back down on the ground with a noticably hard thud. The girl tossed her black case into the air and Jaune watched as it popped open to reveal a long, thin, red-handed staff. The girl grabbed it and the thin blade beside it. With practiced efficiency, she slid the blade into place and hit a few key switches on the staff, revealing it to be a large scythe.

"Tyr!" The red-hooded girl used the pistol against her head once more. The entity reappeared, raising its arm high. Another gust of wind appeared, this time under the girl. She jumped, propelled by the wind to dizzying heights.

The girl spun in the air with the scythe in her hand, and Jaune saw she was being framed by the clocktower and the moon behind it. She must have leaped impossibly high, bringing the scythe overhead, the red hood of her oversized jacket billowing out behind her... and then she came down. She dove right at the bird creature. Right as it was raising itself up to keep fighting, she fell on the other side of it, fast as lightning. Her scythe shimmered in the moonlight. First, the creature's mask fell off, revealing that the bird-like creature had no facial features beneath it. Then, the head simply slid off of the rest of the body.

The creature, wings akimbo, fell to the earth. It began to dissipate, small pitch-black particles of it floating into the air around the girl. The girl, for her part, calmly walked back to her case, removed the blade from her scythe, and put it back into its box. She looked around for a moment, then spotted Jaune poking out from behind the mailbox. She walked over to him. He was still seated on the ground, looking at her wide-eyed.

She held out a hand. "I'm Ruby Rose."

"J-Jaune..." he took her hand and slowly came to stand, realizing that he was much taller than her in the process. "Jaune Arc."

* * *

Kinnakoa here. If you're still here, thanks for reading this far! This is a fanfic idea I've had bouncing around for a while and am glad to finally be sharing publicly. Grimm Hour is going to update regularly on Thursday nights (unless something crazy happens). I hope you enjoy it! Comments and criticisms totally appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby smiled at Jaune, and he felt calm looking at her silver eyes. With her hood back, he could see that her hair was short and black. She was wearing tight black shorts under her hoodie, but the hoodie was so large they were barely visible. She had black boots on, and as he looked her up he realized she was giggling.

"W-*snrk*-weren't you the guy who threw up on the train?"

"H-hey! I'll have you know motion sickness is very common..." She burst into a wider laugh, and he laughed with her. Partly because her laughter was contageous, partly because of how ridiculous the whole situation was. He just saw a little girl - kill a monster - with a scythe! The tension left his body as he laughed, then he heard a foot tapping nearby.

His snow angel was standing there, arms crossed, boot hitting the ground in an impatient fashion. She was staring at Ruby with an annoyed look at her face.

"Ahem."

"H-hey Weiss! We were... um... this is... um... Meet Jaune!" Ruby extended her arms out, gesturing to him as she did so. Weiss seemed neither amused nor excited, and merely looked Jaune up and down with clear judgment in her eyes. Clear judgment that, apparently, found him lacking.

"Hello." She said, tersely, keeping her arms crossed. She looked at Ruby, and at Jaune, then at Ruby again. "Ruby Rose! What did I just tell you about running off?!" She looked more than slightly annoyed as she shouted. "I was barely able to back you up there! You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"B-but he was in trouble! That thing could've killed him!" She gestured frantically at Jaune, and looked at him for help. He looked at both of them, hands up infront of himself in a defensive gesture. Ruby noticed he couldn't stop staring at Weiss.

"That thing could've killed _you_! You just got here! Yang would've lost it, not to mention your UNCLE! It's my job to look after you, so you have to follow my rules, is that clear?!" She stomped her boot for emphasis, keeping her arms crossed as she stared down at Ruby.

"W-with all due respect, miss snow angel, she -did- save my life." He smiled, putting on what he hoped was his best casual look. Weiss thought he looked partially braindead, and/or constipated. Jaune's smile faded as he looked between the two of them. "W-wait, what even was that?! How did you do that?! What was that... thing you fought that other thing with!?" His eyes widened as he stopped gaping over Weiss and realized what kind of situation he was in. "And why are the walls bleeding? And what happened to this city? Is this kinda thing normal here? And what's with all the coffins, and... and... wow I'm tired."

Jaune's legs started to give slightly, and Ruby caught him with both hands. She held him up as his eyes started to flutter. Weiss sighed, holding her hands up.

"Fine, we'll deal with it later. Let's get tall, dark, and scraggly here to the dorms before he passes out." She crossed her arms again and started walking briskly down the street in the direction she came from. Ruby held Jaune up, who was for his part, carrying at least some of his weight. Probably.

"Sure thing, beautiful..." he sighed dreamily, his legs barely carrying him one step in front of the other. Ruby had his arm over her shoulder, adjusting herself every now and then. As they climbed into the limo, Jaune swore the world started to change back. The sickly green walls started to look like normal buildings. The rivers and pools of blood completely evaporated. He even swore a coffin turned into a person. The clock continued to chime again, as normal.

"Don't worry, Jaune." Ruby said, patting him on the shoulder. "The first time in the Grimm Hour is always tough on the body, especially when you don't have a Persona..."

Jaune nodded in what he hoped was a knowing fashion. His head went up, and down, and up, and down, and... then just stayed there, resting on his chin. As the limo started to move, he drifted off to sleep, wondering if all that he had just experienced had in fact been a dream...

"Ahh, I see that you've returned."

Ozpin's voice echoed in the room as Jaune's eyes slowly opened to once again reveal the indigo and violet colored classroom around him. The desks were still there, but something was slightly... different. Two dolls were seated in two of the desks. They were small, big eyed, big headed versions of the girls he had just met. Each one was roughly the size of a toddler. In the front leftmost seat sat Ruby, and Weiss was directly behind her.

"Woooah. Hi... um... again."

Glynda was once again standing behind Ozpin, arms crossed, poise perfect. She briefly took a moment to adjust her glasses as she looked over the classroom at Jaune. Behind her on the chalkboard, the word 'WILD CARD' was in all caps. Jaune shuffled in his seat and looked from left to right.

"So, uh... what the heck is going on?"

"As I've said, this is the Velvet Room. It is my duty to ensure that you take your place in the upcoming narrative." He steepled his fingers again. "I am Ozpin, and this is Glynda."

"Right, right, I got that part. I meant with the uh... bird demon thing. And that girl, Ruby! She fought it by summoning some kinda awesome warrior."

"Ahhh, yes. You have now encountered a Persona, and a Persona user." Glynda spoke up, stepping forward. "Persona is the mask we wear when we confront the world. That enemy was a Shadow. By unlocking the power of Persona, you will be able to fight Shadows like Miss Rose."

"Wait, I can do that too!? That's so cool! How do I get one?" He sat straight up in his seat, paying full attention now.

"Well, Mr. Arc, it seems that you have not yet unlocked your power. You do however, have the potential, and a special one at that. This is why I have called you here today. You are unique. You possess an ability that Miss Rose does not. While she can summon a singular persona to fight shadows, you have the power of the Wild Card. A power that, in theory, should allow you to summon multiple personas."

"Um... in theory?" Jaune thought that did not sound particularly good. Theory was a nice place to visit, but often required disappointing trips back to reality.

"This is quite unprecedented." Glynda responded. "You have the power of the Wild Card despite, as of yet, having no persona of your own. We're also not quite sure why you've manifested with... these." She gestured to the dolls of Weiss and Ruby. "Regardless, we shall help you in your endeavors to discover the limits of your potential."

Jaune nodded, looking over at the dolls. He saw that they each had a card of some kind on the desk directly in front of them. The cards were a deep violet color, and displayed a seemingly simple mask staring back at him, half white and half violet, with sun-like rays surrounding it. He stood and tried to turn the card over, but it seemed attached to the desk. He gave it a few tries and promptly gave up.

"From now on," Ozpin continued, "you will need to strengthen the power of the Wild Card. This can only be done through your social links. The bonds you share with others will grant you power in your heart, and the power of the wild card will grow stronger. If you wish to aid Miss Rose and the others, you will need this strength."

"Uhh... did you just tell me to make friends?" Jaune said, looking up from the desk.

"That is an... elementary way to put it." Glynda chimed. "It is advice worth heeding, however."

"Take this." Ozpin reached into his jacket pocket and placed a large, blue, ancient-looking key on the desk infront of him. "This will allow you to reach us from the outside world, instead of only when you dream. We will be waiting patiently for your return."

"Got it. Make friends, be wild, grow stronger... how hard could it be?"

"Ahh, the confidence of youth." Ozpin smiled through his glasses. As Jaune touched the Velvet Key, he saw the room fade from view, with a large blue door closing in front of him. Then all he saw was darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Monday, April 10th

Jaune's eye's fluttered open to see the roof of a room he did not recognize. There was a simple cieling fan, spinning lazily. It was dark, and the curtains were drawn. He slowly got out of bed and realized he was wearing the same thing he wore last night... had it been last night? He felt like he had slept for years. He strode over to the curtain and pulled it open.

Light streamed in from the outside, and he could see below the front courtyard of Beacon Academy. Stony walkways streamed through green parks, with lush trees popping up here and there. People were out and about, students wearing school uniforms and going about their business. It looked like it must be early to mid-day.

"Wow, you finally made it Jaune. Beacon Academy..." he looked down and saw people rushing to class, couples holding hands and talking, books being read underneath trees. Everything he expected from prestigious academy life. He blinked and for a split second vividly remembered the giant bird coming right for him in the night. "I guess it all really was a dream, huh?" He put his hands in his pockets and started to walk toward the door. As he approached, he felt something strange. He pulled it out to examine in.

A large, violet colored, ancient-looking key was sitting in his hands.

"Or... not." The velvet room flashed into his mind. Social links, the wild card. Ruby Rose and her Persona. The Shadow. Weiss, the beautiful flawless angel who maybe had an attitude but that just made her more endearing. "Huh. Guess it's time to make some friends?"

Someone had left his suitcase sitting at the foot of his bed. He grabbed his necessities, showered, got dressed, and was heading for the door when he heard a simple knock. He froze for a moment. Did he look handsome, dashing, and immaculate enough for the eyes of his princess? If Weiss saw him at anything other than his best -

"Excuse me, would you terribly mind if I came in? I heard the water running, so I assume you are awake."

It was a voice he didn't recognize. Slightly downcast that it wasn't his princess, Jaune slowly cracked open the door. On the other side - in full school uniform of a black blazer lined with gold and a red and black pleated skirt - was a girl with long red hair tied back in a ponytail. She had it clasped with a metallic gold band. Her wrists also wore gold bands.

"I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Nice to meet you Jaune." She held out her hand, and Jaune shook it.

"Hi, I'm Jau- oh, right, you already know that. Um... do you know where Weiss is?"

The girl had been looking at him earnestly straight in the eye, but looked away for a moment before responding. "I believe she is in class. She should be joining us at a later time." She looked back at him and smiled. "I see you have awoken. I am glad to see you looking well." She smiled. "Perhaps I can give you a tour of the dorms and help you get situated?"

"That would... honestly really help right about now. Everything's been a blur since, uh... since..." He wasn't sure what to say. Would she think he was a freak if he started talking about bleeding walls, giant bird monsters, and little girls with scythes? He looked over at her as they left the room and saw, for the first time, that she was wearing a gun holster strapped to her upper thigh, barely visible beneath the hem of her uniform's skirt.

"The incident, right? Ruby and Weiss informed me of what happened. I am only sad that business kept me away from school until just yesterday, so I could not assist in the fight." She looked down for a moment, crossing her fingers lightly to eachother as she and Jaune headed down a flight of stairs.

"Wait, you got here yesterday? But missed the fight?... so that... means..." Jaune furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You've been unconscious for at least a day, I'm afraid. School started yesterday, and you were not in attendance."

"W-w-w-wait! I can't miss class! Oh crap, I'm already behind enough as it is! Now I'll never catch up! And no one's going to believe me when I tell them-" He felt Pyrrha's hands on his shoulders, holding him firm. He felt a solidness stemming from her, and he closed his mouth and took a deep breath in response. He looked into her bright and shining eyes, the color of new cut grass.

"Jaune, remain calm. We have taken care of everything. Your trip was merely delayed. No one was expecting you to have arrived until tomorrow. You will have today to get acquainted with the Academy, and then you will start class without issue." She smiled at him, a simple smile, and he realized she had a very forthright way of speaking that immediately made him believe she was speaking earnestly.

"Thanks, Pyrrha. So um... where exactly are we?"

"This is a special dormitory owned by Weiss's family, the Schnee corporation. Ruby, Weiss, and myself live here in order to fight shadows - like the large raven that attacked you and Ruby the other day - during what we call the Grimm Hour. We had you reassigned here from your room in the boys' dormitory after we came to know that you have the Potential."

"Potential? Like the power to summon a Persona?"

Pyrrha looked wide-eyed for a moment, then nodded. "Why, yes. I'm surprised you figured that much out on your own already."

"Yeah, that Ozpin and Glynda told me in that purple-looking classroom. That happened to you too, right?" He looked at Pyrrha. Pyrrha stared at him blankly, blinking a few times.

"I'm... afraid I have no idea what you are referring to, Jaune. Perhaps you are confused from having been asleep for so long." She patted him on the shoulder, like one would cautiously and tentatively pat a confused newborn puppy.

Jaune flushed, stumbling on his words as he nodded, "Um, y-yeah, you're probably right. Just imagining stuff out the wazoo with this here noggin." He scratched the back of his head, then followed along as Pyrrha smiled. She changed the topic by beginning the tour. Downstairs was the kitchen, a simple sitting area, and a general dorm sign-in/sign-out sheet. The second floor was where Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby slept. The third floor was where Jaune's room was located, as well as a few other empty rooms that were currently not in use. They stopped at a door at the end of the hall.

"This is where our supervisor sleeps, when he is present. I'm afraid he's currently away on an investigation." Jaune nodded, and Pyrrha continued guiding him through the dorms. There were a few moments of silence, punctuated by their footsteps going up the stairs, and Jaune decided to fill the void.

"So... you guys all fight shadows together right?" Jaune asked as they headed toward the fourth floor.

"That's correct. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and I all use our Personas to defeat shadows when we encounter them."

"So... how did you unlock your Persona anyway?" He looked her up and down, seeing the gun holster once more as they stepped onto the fourth floor landing. Here, there was a large set of double doors, and a rooftop exit. "Does the gun have something to do with it?"

"Not... precisely." She pulled the pistol out of its holster. "This is called an Evoker. It's more of a tool to summon an already manifested Persona. We could, in theory, summon a Persona without one. However, the Evoker does make it easier to use. As for - as you put it - 'unlocking' my Persona..." she looked to the side for a moment.

"It seems the common theme is that a Persona manifests itself in response to accepting part of yourself. When you overcome a harsh emotional trial, or uncover a revelation of some kind, your Persona may make itself known. However, just by having the Potential, the Persona is already part of you. It's just waiting to make an appearance." She smiled at Jaune, who was nodding and mentally taking notes.

"That's pretty cool stuff. So it kinda pops up when life gets stressful and you need a little help?" He tilted his head to the side as Pyrrha opened the door to the roof. Jaune took a deep breath and smiled as fresh air filled his lungs. "Like a super power that just needs the right push?"

Pyrrha lead Jaune to the ledge of the roof. From here, he could see all of Beacon and much of Vale below him. The sun was beaming in the calm sky with puffs of white drifting lazily across an azure sea. Pyrrha sat on the ledge of the roof, the entire city stretched out behind her. Jaune chose to stand, and it was definitely not because sitting that close to the ledge would give him a severe case of vertigo. Definitely not.

Pyrrha smiled at him. She looked him directly in the eyes as she spoke. "It's more that you must be ready for your Persona. It's entirely up to you to accept the trials and tribulations of your life for the parts of yourself they represent, no matter how hard it is to do so."

Jaune nodded, seemingly understanding. Inside, he wasn't quite so sure he knew what Pyrrha was talking about. Trials and tribulations? Accepting parts of yourself? It seemed very complex and vague to him. He realized, though, that he felt at ease while Pyrrha was explaining things. She had patience for his questions, and kept an even tone the entire time. He smiled, glad to have made a new friend so quickly.

 _Thou art I_...

Jaune froze in the moment. He could hear a deep, calm voice - like Ozpin's - speaking in the back of his mind.

 _And I am thou..._  
 _Thou hast established a new bond..._  
 _It gives a new verse to thy story..._  
 _Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Sun Arcana..._

The voice faded, and Jaune noticed Pyrrha was simply staring out over Vale as though nothing had happened. She probably hadn't even heard it. This was probably one of those things they mentioned in the Velvet Room. Ozpin had called it a Social Link, Jaune recalled. Maybe he would understand it a bit more the next time he visited. He felt in his pocket for the key, nodding to himself.

Pyrrha and Jaune headed back inside. "Thanks for the tour, Pyrrha."

"Any time, Jaune. Please let me know if you have further questions. You should probably take it easy for the rest of the day. I will be studying in my room should you need me." She smiled at him, once again placing a hand on his shoulder, and then walked down the stairs ahead of him. He watched her go, her red ponytail bobbing behind her as she disappeared from view.

 _So the more people like that I meet,_ Jaune thought, _the stronger I'll get. Maybe that's the key to getting one of those Personas? Then I can fight shadows too, instead of hiding behind a mailbox like a scared kitten..._ He sighed to himself, slumping his shoulders and heading downstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Jaune!" Ruby announced as she walked in the front door. She looked much like Jaune remembered, only this time she was wearing the Beacon-issued school uniform skirt instead of the slightly oversized bright red hoodie. Jaune was sitting on the couch on the first floor, a map of Beacon spread wide open infront of him. He seemed to be tracing along with his finger in one hand, every so often double-checking his class schedule.

"H-hey Ruby. How's um... things?" He put the map down and gave a small wave.

Ruby yawned and stretched as she walked over to him and plopped into the seat beside him on the couch, putting her black and red backpack on her lap. "Class was pretty boring. I'd much rather be out fighting bad guys. Good to see you up and about! We were getting pretty worried what with you being unconsious for so long." She turned to him and gave him a smile. He returned it.

"Yeah... about that," Jaune held onto his own hands nervously, "Thanks for saving me."

Ruby shrugged, tapping him on the shoulder lightly. "Happy to help, Jaune."

They sat there in an awkward silence for what seemed like eternity, Jaune fiddling with his fingers while Ruby dangled her legs off the couch. She slowly zipped open the backpack infront of her while Jaune finally spoke up.

"So... Pyrrha's pretty cool." He said awkwardly.

"Hooray! You got to meet Pyrrha already. That saves one introduction." She started digging through her backpack. "That's most of the team, except for my sister Yang and Uncle Qrow." She dug out a plastic bag of chocolate chip cookies and started tearing it open. "You should meet them when they get back from investigating." She popped the cookie into her mouth, taking almost the entire thing in one bite.

"So the team supervisor is your Uncle? Does he fight shadows too?"

"He used to. He says he's getting too old for it, but I think he wants to help out in his own way." She had already finished the entire cookie, having practically inhaled it. She reached into her bag and pulled out another, immediately chomping into it. "He can tell you more when he gets here." She stood up, cookie half in her mouth as she slid the backpack back on.

"I'll -chomp- talk -gulp- to you later Jaune! Good luck!" She hopped up the stairs. Jaune was surprised at how quickly she came and went, and half expected to hear a voice inside his head when the conversation ended. When nothing happened, he shrugged and went back to planning his route for the next day.

As he looked at the map, he couldn't help but see the image in his head of a small girl wearing a red hoodie standing between him and his certain demise. They almost seemed like different people... the warrior that had saved him and the girl who was just beside him chowing down on sweets.

Once he finished figuring out - more or less - where he needed to go the next day, Jaune put the map and his schedule away and decided he should explore Beacon to its fullest. As he left the dorm, he felt in his pocket again - the Velvet Key was still there. He wondered how he would know how to get back there?

Walking outside, Jaune could see that evening had just begun to set in over Beacon Academy. He headed down the winding pathways into the open courtyards. There, he saw students putting away signs and tents that were advertising for various school clubs and committees, like the theater club, music club, and political activist groups.

As he walked through, he heard two voices rise above the crowd.

"Don't you think that's pushing it a bit too far?" The speaker was a girl with long black hair, wearing black tights with a white tank top. She had a black bow tied on top of her hair. The man next to her was tall and lean, with short, styled red hair wearing a long black duster.

"I think it could go even further if we have to." His voice had a hint of anger to it as he talked. The girl didn't cower, necessarily, but she wasn't meeting him face-to-face either. He was holding a sign that had a stylized snowflake on it with, circled with red with a large slash through it. "We need to show them that they can't just own us, and this hippie protest crap isn't getting us anywhere." He stalked away, leaving the girl to finish cleaning up alone, dropping the sign as he left.

Jaune briefly made eye contact with the girl as he walked past. He noted that she looked... helpless. Defeated. He felt a strange empathy towards her, a tug that said 'just go talk to her'. Following it, he meandered over. "H-hey! Everything ok?" She had a slight frown on her face. Her response was rushed.

"Yeah. It's fine. I don't really wanna talk about it." She started putting a few pamphlets and flyers away in a box. Jaune felt like there were an awful lot of them - like they hadn't given away nearly as many as they intended to. The girl was working slowly but methodically, and Jaune stood there awkwardly as she pointedly ignored him.

"Um... would you like some help cleaning up?"

"I can handle it."

The silence continued as she deliberately moved around him to pick up the sign that the guy had dropped on the floor. Jaune extended a hand toward her as she straightened up.

"I'm Jaune, nice to meet you."

"I'm... Blake." she shook his hand tentatively, quickly. Then she looked him in the eye. "Look I get that you're trying to be nice to me, and I appreciate it. Just..." She cast her glance away from him. "I'd really rather be alone right now."

"Oh, um... right. Sorry to bother you." Jaune respected her space and sidestepped out of the booth, walking back toward the dorm. Blake kept putting things away, avoiding eye contact. After he made it a few steps, Jaune heard her call to him.

"Hey, uh... Jaune?"

He pivoted, walking back into the booth. She was holding one of the pamphlets out to him. He could see the stylized snowflake on the front, only it was turning black in spots instead of all white. The tagline read, "Schnee Company: Pure or Putrid?" Jaune turned it over in his hands. "I take it you hate the Schnee family?"

Blake seemed to freeze up somewhat. She closed her eyes for a moment as though trying to find what to say. "Hate's a... strong... word. I've never met them personally, I just... disagree with some of their business practices." She was nearly finished packing up. "Just... give it a read. Let me know what you think, I wrote it myself." She smiled up at him.

Jaune nodded as he folded the pamphlet and tossed it into his pocket. "I guess I could fit some light reading into my schedule. Thanks Blake. Have a good one." He started walking away, feeling glad that he left the dorms after all. He felt like he'd done enough with his day, and started walking back to the dorms.

Back in the dorms, he spotted Weiss and Pyrrha talking. Pyrra gave him a smile and a polite wave, and Weiss did so as well - though less enthusiastically. Jaune perked up at the sight of his snow angel, and meandered over to them. "Hey there, ladies. Long time no see."

"That's... accurate. I see that you've recovered." Weiss had her arms crossed as she looked at him. "Our hopes were high, but you can never be too sure. I've heard some people stay out as long as a week when first coming into contact with the Grimm Hour without a Persona.. and those are just the ones that survived."

Jaune audibly gulped. "Ones that... survived?"

"Correct. The Shadows are fatal, you know. It's not like that giant raven was just trying to find snacks in your suitcase." She flipped her hair slightly, then crossed her arms again. "It's not uncommon for someone oblivious to suddenly find themselves lost in the Grimm Hour. When they do, the Shadows tend to attack."

"That's why we do what we do." Pyrrha added, an air of hope in her voice. "So that we can protect innocents from the Shadows."

"R-right." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "It definitely felt scary but... I guess I should've realized I'm not the first person to go in without some awesome Persona powers to rely on."

"Certainly not." Weiss said casually. "Though, if we knew what caused people to suddenly wander into the Grimm Hour, we could take preventative measures. As it is, we don't even know if they all have Potential. With only the three of us present, we can't even do a proper patrol."

"You mean four, right?" Jaune added quickly. "I'm part of the team now, too, aren't I?"

Pyrrha and Weiss looked at eachother worryingly. "Well..." Pyrrha began, slowly. "We were discussing it, and we believe that... perhaps given your lack of Persona... and combat skill... it may be best to keep you away from the fighting until you can fight on your own."

Weiss nodded. "We certainly don't want you fighting Shadows without a Persona, and there are too few of us to give you a babysitter. Especially in a place as dangerous as Muspell."

"B-but..." Jaune was stammering defensively, then caught himself. "Wait, Moose-spell-what now?" Jaune looked to Pyrrha, mostly because Weiss, despite her inherent beauty and flawlessness, was perhaps starting to hurt his feelings with words like 'babysitter'. He was starting to see why perhaps Blake was working with an anti-Weiss-family-hate-club.

"Muspell - as we call it - is a strange arena of sorts that only becomes visible during the Grimm Hour. There is a large collection of Shadows there, and we've barely begun to scratch the surface. We believe that it may hold clues to help discover the mysteries behind the Grimm Hour and Shadows as a whole." Pyrrha explained matter-of-factly, keeping the same calm and even tone the entire time.

"So... if I unlock my Persona, you might have enough people to start checking it out?" His eyes were full of hope, and they glanced between Weiss and Pyrrha like a puppy who had just heard the words 'go for a walk'.

"Perhaps, depending on its strength." Weiss said, the same biting cold in her voice implying that Jaune's Persona, even if it manifested, may not be much to look at. "Pyrrha and Ruby both have very strong combat Personas. My Persona has a unique ability to discern weaknesses, but using that ability keeps me off of the frontlines. Not every Persona is the same, so even if you do obtain your Persona, it may not provide the tactical advantage we need to get anywhere." She said the word 'may not provide' but her eyes said the words 'most certainly will not provide'.

"So I just have to make sure my Persona is the most awesome of them all, right?"

"I'll be looking forward to seeing what Persona you end up manifesting." Pyrrha smiled, placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "But for now you should relax. No good will come of forcing the matter- it will happen when the time is right. We can always touch on this at a later date. For now, I think you have enough to focus on with the school year starting."

"That's... probably very very true." Jaune said, sighing and slumping his shoulders. "I should get some sleep. Thanks again for everything, guys. I'll try to figure this stuff out." He headed up the stairs to his room, Weiss and Pyrrha giving polite goodnights as he did so.

Once in his room, Jaune changed into his pajamas and laid down, feeling a mix of elation and disappointment. On the one hand, he had learned so many cool, exciting new things... Shadows, the Grimm Hour, Personas, Social Links... on the other hand, he still felt just as useless as ever. He hoped, as he closed his eyes, that Ozpin and Glinda would appear to explain how he could help his newfound friends.

Tuesday, April 11th

As he awakened the next morning, he sighed with the discovery that they did not.

Jaune got dressed in the school uniform, grabbed his backpack, and headed out the door. He felt the presence of the Velvet Key in his pocket, a constant weight on his mind. His first day was a blur of introductions, getting slightly turned around here and there, and a basic introduction to his classes. The entire time, the Velvet Room weighed heavily on his mind.

As he finished his last class of the day, Jaune pulled the key out, spinning it over in his hand. He was headed back toward the dorm when he saw it, for the first time, staring directly at him in broad daylight. He was in one of the back courtyards of Beacon, walking past the outer wall that stretched up into various classrooms and ended at the clocktower. Jaune had passed through the entrance on the other side of the building earlier, so he was surprised to find that there, at the very base of the tower where there was supposedly no entrance, sat a door of blue and velvet, letting off an etheral glow.

Jaune approached the door, key in hand. He slid the key slowly into the door's lock - it fit inside perfectly. He turned the key and heard an audible click. Slowly and carefully, he opened the door and the world around him faded from view.


	6. Chapter 6

Jaune's eyes fluttered open to find that despite having just opened the mysterious door, he was now sitting in the same desk in the Velvet Room. On the top of his desk he noticed a small card, like the one he found on the desks infront of the dolls - only this one he could actually lift. He picked it up and turned it around in his hand.

The front of the card displayed a small green dog-like creature, tongue lolling out of its mouth in a playful fashion. Below the image of the dog wore the words 'Cu Sith', and below that the words 'The Sun'.

 _Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Sun Arcana..._

The words echoed in his ears as he looked at the card. Glancing up, he noticed that another doll had appeared as well - this one sitting in the desk ahead of him. The red hair of the ponytail was drifting on top of Jaune's desk, partially obscuring the chalkboard from view. Jaune slowly stood up, and saw Ozpin and Glynda there, same as always. This time, the word on the chalkboard was 'Empathy'.

"Welcome back, Mister Arc. I see that you've had quite some progress since our last visit - forming new bonds and establishing your first social link. Congratulatios."

Jaune smiled, looking down at the Cu Sith card. He thought it looked kinda cute. "Is this my Persona? Can I fight shadows now?" He held the card up for Ozpin and Glynda to see. Glynda stepped forward.

"I'm afraid not." She took the card in her hand and spun it so that it floated in the air, then looked down at the desks of the Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha dolls in the room. "It appears, however, that you can now use your Wild Card ability to the benefit of those around you. This is quite unprecedented, Mister Arc. I'm impressed."

"R-really?" Jaune went from frowning at still having no Persona to immediate elation at the compliment. At least he would be of some use, even if not on the front lines.

"By establishing Social Links, you're going to be able to form Personas for use in battle. However, as your own Persona has not yet manifested, it will need to be used by someone close to you instead. Someone for whom you have shown a level of empathy, someone with whom you share common goals. For example, try placing the card on Miss Rose's desk."

Jaune grabbed the Cu Sith floating in the air and placed it on the desk belonging to the Ruby doll. The card simply flopped onto the desk without ceremony. Jaune waited patiently for something exciting to happen - nothing did. He tried once more to turn over the face-down card on her desk, and still nothing happened.

"You have not yet become close enough with Miss Rose to establish a Social Link. However, try it with Miss Nikos, with whom your Social Link is already established."

Jaune walked over to the desk infront of his own, and saw the Pyrrha doll sitting there with its large emerald eyes. However, whereas the desks belonging to Ruby and Weiss's dolls had face-down cards infront of them, Pyrrha's had a face-up one. It displayed a large sun with a calmly smiling face, large rays extended in every direction. Beneath it were the words 'The Sun' with a large 'XIX' underneath that.

Jaune dropped the Cu Sith card onto the doll's desk - it immediately 'snapped' into place, sliding itself over next to the Sun arcana card. The Cu Sith card began to glow a soft blue and above it, a very small green dog manifested above the card. The Sun card itself lit up as well, manifesting a very small image of something Jaune didn't recognize - a small humanoid creature in shining armor with a small glowing orb where its head should be.

"Woah - is that Pyrrha's persona?" Jaune put his hands on the desk to get a closer look. The name 'Baldr' floated above the knight's head, and he noticed that it had no arms. Instead, a spear and shield floated around it with rhythmic symmetry. The creature and Cu Sith rotated in small circles, and Jaune could see their entire bodies.

"Now, it is more accurate to say that they are both Miss Nikos' Persona. Thanks to your power of the Wild Card, you can grant the Personas that you have obtained to those with whom you have a bond." Jaune watched the Cu Sith spin in place. He reached for the card and found he could pick it up and place it back easily. "You can transfer these Personas to and from teammates as needed, here within the Velvet Room."

Jaune reached for the Baldr card, but found the Sun Arcana firmly attached itself to Pyrrha's desk. "What about these ones?"

"That is the Persona that awakened within Pyrrha's heart, a true manifestation of herself." Glynda tapped the Baldr card and for a moment it grew larger. A grid displayed behind it, showing a number of statistics that Jaune didn't quite understand, as well as the words 'Hama' and 'Assault Dive'. "It cannot be removed from her being - it is a true facet of herself. The Personas you grant to others are merely facets of yourself that you are sharing with them - points of understanding that they may use to face their hardships alongside their own Personas."

Jaune nodded. He tried to place the Cu Sith card on his desk, and once again nothing happened. He expected as much, though. Unlike the desks that the dolls were seated at, Jaune's desk was actually blank. There was no card, face-up or face-down, to represent his own Persona. "So I guess I can provide back-up in my own way, right?"

"That's correct." Glynda nodded. "As you gain more Personas, I will record them for you inside this book." She slid open a massive tome that certainly wasn't there moments ago. Using the stick she carried at all times, Glynda reached out and tapped the Cu Sith card. It split in two - one on Jaune's desk and another more ephemeral version attached to the end of Glynda's stick. She placed the card in the tome and snapped it shut. "This way you can retrieve the same Persona multiple times, or perhaps even fuse multiple Personas to create stronger ones."

"Woah, fusion? That sounds so cool!... but I'd need another Persona, right?" Jaune held up the Cu Sith card, wondering what would happen if you fused a small green dog with a giant knight like Baldr or a cloaked warrior like Tyr. Did they just... ride the dog into battle?

"Yes but perhaps we should touch on that at a later date." Ozpin, who had been silent for most of this visit, finally chimed in over his seemingly permanently-steaming mug. "When you have established stronger links and made multiple Personas manifest, I would be happy to fuse them for you." He took a long sip, and Glynda returned to his side.

"Right, so for now..." Jaune reached out and placed the Cu Sith card back onto the desk infront of the Pyrrha doll. Once again it lit up, sliding into position alongside Baldr. "Pyrrha gets a helping hand the next time she fights shadows." He cast his glance downward. "Shame I won't be with them."

"On the contrary." Glynda said, casaully. "You will need to be near them for this Persona to manifest. Not right beside them, necessarily, but at least within shouting distance. This Persona is still yours, Mister Arc. Pyrrha can only use it if her relationship with you is in the forefront of her mind - both consciously and subconsciously." She adjusted her glasses.

"I see... so I'll have to find a way to join them, even though I can't fight with my own Persona yet..." Jaune tapped his chin, nodding slowly. "Right. Thanks alot Glynda, Ozpin. I'll be heading on out." Jaune sat back in his desk, reclined himself into a comfortable position, and closed his eyes.

* * *

When Jaune opened his eyes, he was still in the Velvet Room. Ozpin and Glynda were both staring at them, a humored smirk slightly creeping over Ozpin's face from the other side of his mug. Even Glynda seemed to be in danger of cracking a smile.

"Um... is this... not how I leave?" Jaune looked down at the desk, wondering if there was an 'evacuate' button or other such mechanism by which he could leave this embarrasing situation.

"I might suggest the door." Ozpin gestured to the front of the classroom, where there sat - in plain view - a door just like the one he had previously entered. Jaune shot up out of his desk, clearing his throat as he walked to the front of the classroom.

"R-right. Of course. Um... thanks bye." He turned the knob and pushed the door open, as the world around him fell into pitch blackness.

* * *

"Ummm, Jaune? You ok there buddy?" Ruby was poking Jaune's shoulder. He came to with a sudden start, looking around himself in surprise. Ruby flinched, taking a large step back as he did so. "W-wah!"

Jaune looked around and found that he was once again right at the base of the clocktower, next to the should-be-empty wall. He could still see the door to the Velvet Room glowing faintly infront of him. Next to him stood Ruby, a look of concern on her face. It was still mid-afternoon. Students were still bustling about Beacon, heading to or from various afterschool activities.

"Oh, hey Ruby! Wh-what's up?" Jaune gave a small polite wave. Ruby returned it, her eyebrows raised.

"Umm... heeeeeeey." She walked a little closer and reached over to touch Jaune's upper arm. She pinched him. Hard.

"O-ow!" He stepped back, slapping her hand away and holding where she pinched. "What's gotten into you?!"

"Sorry!" She waved her hands infront of her face. "I just... wanted to make sure you're ok. You looked like you were staring at this blank wall for a few seconds and didn't respond when I tried to talk to you. Is everything alright? You seem really out of it."

Jaune looked at the door and back to Ruby, a small smile crossing his face. "I think so, and I think you're going to like what I have to tell you."

Ruby, for her part, looked even more concerned.


	7. Chapter 7

There was a pause as Ruby and Jaune walked to the dorm together. Jaune had just finished speaking, and Ruby was tapping her chin, a look of contemplation on her face. She stopped and turned to face Jaune, her silver eyes searching his face.

"So... you're telling me that by going into a magic door that only YOU can see and talking to some weird people you can give creepy doll versions of me, Weiss, and Pyrrha magic cards that give us more Personas to fight with?"

"Uhhh... that's about right, yeah..." Jaune was just starting to realize how absolutely insane it sounded. He stared at the grass between his shoes. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"Nope." Ruby nodded to herself and started to walk again.

"What do you mean, 'nope'?" Jaune jogged slightly to catch up.

"I meant... Nope." She shrugged. "Just the other day, I fought a giant demon bird in a dark street during a special hour that turns people into coffins and I did it by calling on a one-armed sword-wielding warrior that I can only summon by shooting myself in the head with a special pistol." She took a big gasping breath in. "And that's just the craziest thing to happen recently!" She took another deep breath in and as she breathed out she semi-gasped, "At this point, Jaune, I'll believe just about anything."

Jaune stared at her with his mouth agape for a moment... and started chuckling. "That's... yeah, actually, that's really fair. So do you want to try it? To try exploring Muspell?" His voice nearly went an entire octave higher with excitement.

"Yeah!" Ruby held her hands high. "Let's see if we can get Weiss and Pyrrha to go with us! We'll be team... uhh..." she started pointing at her fingers as she whispered "P... W... R..." then she held her hands high again. "Team PoWeR!" Ruby had a huge smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Jaune noticed at moments like this just how childlike she could be.

"Did... you just make a team name by throwing everyone's initials into a random word?"

"Yup!" Ruby beamed with pride.

"But..." Jaune started spelling under his breath while keeping track on his fingers. "Power doesn't have a J in it! Don't I get to be a team member by giving you guys awesome new powers to use?"

Ruby crossed her arms and got a thoughtful look on your face. "I guess that's fair, even if you can't help us on the frontlines. Your support will be acknowledged!" She planted her feet and pointed a finger at Jaune. "Henceforth, we shall be... J-PoWeR!"

A breeze blew a few leaves by the two as Ruby stood pointing at Jaune. Jaune's chin fell to his chest, glad that no one seemed to be around to see Ruby's exclamation. "That... doesn't seem much better."

Ruby's hand slowly extended until she was pointing at the sky. "THE J STANDS FOR JUSTICE!" She pulled her fist down and thrust it into the air excitedly. "Those Shadows won't even know what hit them!" She resumed heading toward the dorms, now practically skipping with each step. Jaune chortled to himself and bounced slightly alongside her.

"You know, it's hard to believe Pyrrha and Weiss are the same age as us. I could never imagine them being goofy like this." He kept chuckling, but Ruby stopped in her tracks as Jaune walked by. He went a few steps before realizing she wasn't keeping up, then turned to look at her. "Uhh... everything ok?"

"Wait... You thought I was the same age as you guys?" Jaune noticed Ruby was blushing slightly as she said this. "You mean, nobody told you?!" She raised her voice slightly, looking slackjawed at Jaune.

Jaune just stared at her. "Uh... told me what?"

Ruby held her hands together in front of her, playing with her fingertips shyly as she walked in a small circle. "Well..." she fidgeted a bit, "I was moved ahead to Beacon." She stopped walking and fidgeting. "By... almost two whole years."

There was a deafening silence that followed, and it was Jaune's turn to be slack-jawed. Ruby looked at Jaune. Jane looked at Ruby. A cricket started singing the song of its people somewhere in the distance.

 _Wow, Jaune_ , he thought to himself, _you couldn't even get in here on your own merits... and here she is getting in two years early._ _Still, no reason to be sour about it._

"That's..." he looked down at her. "That's SO cool! You must be pretty freaking awesome to have made it here so soon!" He held out his hands for a high five. Ruby enthusiastically gave one, but may have had to hop to do so. Slightly.

 _Thou art I_...

At the clapping sound of Ruby and Jaune high-fiving, a familiar voice returned to Jaune's head.

 _And I am thou..._  
 _Thou hast established a new bond..._  
 _It gives a new verse to thy story..._  
 _Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Magician Arcana..._

Ruby and Jaune continued the rest of the way to the dorm.

"I'm glad you don't think I'm weird, Jaune." Ruby chimed idly. "It's been a hard adjustment, even with the cool Persona stuff occupying my time." Ruby swung the door wide and the two walked inside, with Jaune smiling to himself.

"Y-yeah! Just glad to have met you, Ruby." He smiled at her awkwardly, and she beamed back.

Once they were in the dorm, they parted ways to finish up what schoolwork they had, but Ruby agreed she would talk to Weiss and Pyrrha about exploring Muspell as soon as possible. As Jaune cracked open his books and began to study up for his History class, he wondered if he would be considered a useful member to the team after all...

* * *

"Absolutely not."

Weiss was standing, staring down Ruby on the bottom floor of the dorms. Pyrrha was seated on the couch nearby, with Jaune on the chair beside it. Pyrrha had been studying before the question was popped, while Jaune just hoped that being nearby would increase his chances of joining the squad.

"But-" Ruby began to say.

"I don't care." Weiss exclaimed, before Ruby could even finish her sentence. "When Qrow and Yang left, they put me in charge. Not you." She pointed accusingly at Ruby. "And I, for one, don't quite believe this tall tale about mystic classrooms and multiple Personas." She glanced sidelong at Jaune, who felt a chill run down his spine at her icy cold stare.

"I know it's hard to believe, but-"

"And furthermore," Weiss continued, ignoring that Ruby had even spoken, "even if he can give us an additional Persona, how is he going to defend himself? As long as I have to use my Persona to support, it's just you and Pyrrha on the front lines." She sighed, looking at Pyrrha. "Could I get some support here?"

Pyrrha looked at Jaune, then Ruby, then finally Weiss. She slowly closed her book and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. She crossed her hands in her lap, gesticulating lightly as she spoke. "I think it's a grand idea."

Everyone stared at her. Hard.

"Well, consider it from both sides." Pyrrha said, calmly. "If Jaune has in fact given me an additional Persona, then I would like to find out how to utilize this ability post-haste." She turned to Jaune with a smile before returning to Weiss. "Also, should this just be hallucinations from his time in the Grimm Hour, then the worst-case scenario is a walk to Muspell for minor exploration, which we were tasked with by the Supervisor before he left anyway."

"Woohoo! Pyrrha's down for team Power!" Jaune thrust his fists into the air. Weiss, Pyrrha, and even Ruby stared at him with judgment in their faces. Jaune felt rather betrayed by Ruby in that moment as he put his hands back down. "Uh.. sorry."

Pyrrha cleared her throat. "Furthermore, I think it would be best for Jaune to see what it is that we do. Perhaps it will help him awaken his own Persona." She looked up at Weiss, who was staring at her incredulously. Weiss slowly regained her composure and took a deep breath.

"I seem to be the only one here who hasn't lost my mind." Weiss said calmly. "However, as the one in charge here, I get to decide whether we go or not. And my final answer is no." Weiss flipped her hair and turned on her heel, stepping up the stairs. The three of them watched her disappear onto the second story and heard her door open and shut - not quite with a slam, but definitely with more force than was strictly necessary.

Ruby looked defeated, Jaune looked hopeless, and Pyrrha simply reached infront of herself and grabbed her book. She cracked it open and returned to jotting notes. Ruby looked down at Jaune, giving him a shrug and a half-smile.

"Well, we tried. Sorry Jaune."

"It's fine, Ruby. I'm just glad you stood up for me. You too, Pyrrha." Jaune gave them both a smile, and Pyrrha continued to write, not looking up from her textbook. "You uh... ok there, Pyrrha?" She seemingly ignored the two of them, writing very quickly. A few moments passed, then she closed her book with a thud and placed it back on the coffee table, placing her notes on top.

"My apologies, that was one of the things I needed to finish that before we could go to Muspell." She said calmly, standing up and checking herself for her belongings. "We should rest and grab our things, meeting back here in a couple of hours. If we leave quietly, Weiss will be none the wiser."

Jaune and Ruby both gaped at her.

"W-wait. Is it ok for us to do this without Weiss?" Ruby was looking around nervously as she said it, as though Weiss could pop out around any corner and terrify her at a moment's notice.

"Certainly." Pyrrha said, calmly. "What Weiss doesn't know won't hurt her."

Jaune and Ruby both nodded. The three of them dispersed, finishing what needed to be finished. They quietly grabbed what things they could, and were back at the bottom of the stairs in a moment's notice. Pyrrha held up a single finger in front of her mouth. Ruby and Jaune did the same, then, one by one, proceeded to make their way out the door. As Jaune quietly closed the door behind him, he felt the excitement bubble in his chest as the Grimm Hour approached.


	8. Chapter 8

The three were standing at the edge of Beacon, toward the forest of Forever Fall. Ruby and Pyrrha were both checking their equipment; Ruby was brandishing her long red scythe while Pyrrha was deftly wielding a spear in one hand and gripping a shield in the other. Jaune swung the sword Pyrrha had grabbed for him in a manner that he hoped looked professional.

"Your body is off balance." Pyrrha casually chimed, leaning her equipment against a tree and stepping over toward him. "Your center of gravity needs to be lower, otherwise a Shadow will simply knock you over." She demonstrated by giving him a light shove. Jaune fell completely on his rear, eliciting a burst of giggles from Ruby.

"S-sorry, I'm not used to this whole fighting thing." He grabbed the hand that Pyrrha offered and got back to his feet. She gave him a small demonstration on how to hold his weapon and keep his balance at the same time. He took to practicing with gusto.

"It is difficult at first. Not everyone has had the opportunity to train as much as I... or Ruby, for that matter." Pyrrha watched Jaune with a keen eye, pointing out mistakes in a matter-of-fact manner that left Jaune feeling criticized, but not harshly so. Ruby smiled, swinging her scythe experimentally. Happy with her results, she also leaned it against a tree while they waited.

"Wait, you guys trained for this?" Jaune's looked out from behind raised eyebrows at his companions.

"For a couple of years." Ruby stated. "I've been training with Uncle Qrow since he found out about this... stuff." She gestured to the world around her, then looked to Pyrrha. "But she's the professional here."

Pyrrha gave a polite shrug. "I suppose being an athlete does make it seem that way. My parents began training me in a number of physical disciplines at a young age. It wasn't for anything in particular, it just... happened that way." She chuckled to herself. "That's actually why I was somewhat late getting to Beacon. I was shooting a commercial after celebrating my success in a tournament."

"Wait, what?" Jaune looked Pyrrha up and down, for the first time really seeing how defined her muscles were. It was strange, he thought, how she could be so built but still seem so feminine in her demeanor. "What kind of commercial was it?"

"For Pumpkin Pete's, a popular cereal brand." She shrugged. "I've never tried it myself."

"Woah, I love that stuff!" Jaune was staring at Pyrrha with stars in his eyes. "I can't believe you were in a commercial! That's amazing!"

Pyrrha shrugged. "I suppose it was pretty cool." She looked out toward Beacon. "However, I find the time I spend here, with the team in the Grimm Hour, to be much more rewarding." The clocktower began to chime in the distance, and Pyrrha and Ruby gripped their weapons at the ready. "It's always interesting." She added calmly, as the world descended to darkness around them.

The brown trees and green leaves of the forest transformed into sickly looking pitch-black branches with bright, blood-red leaves. The grass looked dead and brown beneath the team's feet. Jaune looked to Pyrrha and Ruby, who were staring at Beacon - or at least, where Beacon was supposed to be.

The clocktower still stretched into the sky, looking out to the city of Vale from the same viewpoint - as though it had simply sat and watched the world transform under its stare. The building beneath it may have looked the same to the casual observer, but to the three students it was clear that it had become less of a school and more of a colliseum. It was at least three stories tall, with sheer green, bleeding walls with columns stretched across it in all directions.

The most jarring part was what Jaune could see from his vantage point, looking at Beacon from the forest. Straight ahead, where the entrance to the main courtyard should be, sat a spinning, whirling torrent of bright blue flame. It spun in on itself in simple circles, the flames waving in and outward from a central point, with nothing seemingly feeding the flames. They didn't spread like normal either - just kept rotating within themselves, a portal of fire.

"Muspell." Ruby said simply, swinging her scythe over her shoulder. Pyrrha did the same with her spear, gripping her shield in her other hand. Jaune stared straight ahead, grabbed his sword, and gulped audibly. He mused that nothing truly exciting is ever particularly safe, and as the two girls headed toward the building he gathered his courage and followed behind.

They didn't see anything of note on the way to the entrance - a few coffins here and there, the same strange landscape with the same off-color bloodiness to it. As they stood, staring up at the gaping fire that loomed before them, Ruby nodded to Pyrrha, and Pyrrha nodded back. The two, almost in unison, stepped into the opening. The flames consumed them whole, and they vanished from Jaune's sight.

"Wh-... guys? Hey, guys?" He called tenatively to the gate. No one answered. He took a look around, taking in his surroundings. "So... you have to go through a giant wall of fire. No big deal. It's either that, or stay here and be Shadow food since you still don't have a Persona. No worries, Jaune-y boy, you can do it. Just... go." He stood infront of the portal, lightly bouncing himself on his knees as though to jump through. "Just... go." He did it once more, bracing himself, and still not actually leaping through.

It was all well and good for Jaune to pretend to be the hero. It was perfectly fine for him, in his imagination, to save everyone and fight the good fight and end up on top with his awesome new Persona. He could see, in his mind's eye, everyone looking up at him with awe as he laid waste to the enemies before him.

The sad reality was that he was just a fake.

He closed his eyes, taking a very deep breath. "You can do it Jaune. You can go into the scary place to fight Shadows and be awesome and wild card it up and help out your friends. You just... gotta be brave." He looked once more at the gaping hole ahead of him, took two, then three steps away from the portal. He took one more deep breath, then ran full force through the gate to Muspell, screaming the entire way in what he hoped sounded like a manly battle cry.

* * *

"Some woman's in trouble!" Ruby said, looking around the entrance with her Scythe at the ready. Pyrrha was next to her, similarly garbed. In a moment, Jaune manifested on the other side of the flaming portal, eyes closed, swinging his blade as he screamed. He made it a few steps before losing his footing, tripping over himself, and falling flat on his face.

"Oh god, a Shadow's got me!" He cried from the floor. Ruby and Pyrrha exchanged looks over his back, then in unison reached down and lifted him up by his arms. Jaune blinked, looking around and seeing... nothing quite so terrifying, actually.

They were in a small room that looked vaguely prison-like. There were bars on gray stone walls, with paintings of weaponry on the walls themselves. The room seemed to have no lighting source, but Jaune could see just fine. There were torches painted onto the walls at appropriate spots, and ahead of him Jaune could see a simple, turqoise colored door labelled with the roman numeral for 1.

"Huh. This is Muspell?" Jaune took another look around as Pyrrha and Ruby let him find his footing.

"Correct. This is merely the entrance. It seems to be a safe place in which one can rest while exploring the dungeon itself." Pyrrha talked as she glanced around the room. "We've not made it much further than here. Last time there was quite a scare as Ruby ran out of energy."

Ruby's shoulders set themselves, indignant. "Hey! No one told me that you could just... run out of Persona!" She crossed her arms. "It didn't even make sense, I felt fine!"

Pyrrha nodded. "I suppose it is difficult to find your footing." She turned to Jaune. "It seems that the more you use your Persona for its abilities, the weaker your spiritual energy becomes. Should you deplete it, you will need rest in order to regain it. Were you use it to much..." she looked back to Ruby, "you would find yourself suddenly unable to summon your Persona."

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, so that happened all of once ever. But ever since, Weiss has said that she doesn't want us exploring this place. Seems kinda panicky to me."

Jaune continued to look around the room, and spotted a familiar, calming indigo colored door against the wall, halfway between the flaming gate and the door labeled '1'. He walked up toward it. "Hey, do you guys see a door here?"

Pyrrha and Ruby both stared at him. "You mean within the wall?" Pyrrha called, stepping over next to him. She ran her fingers along the stone. "It seems to be a simple wall to me, Jaune." Ruby was assisting, as though looking for a hidden switch or latch.

"I think I can get to that special room from here." He said, reaching for the key in his pocket. "Just... let me check." He slid the velvet key into the lock and turned it, feeling the familiar click. As the door cracked open, the rest of the world faded from his view.

* * *

Kinnakoa here! Had some trouble last night so couldn't get this uploaded, thanks for your patience! I hope you guys are enjoying the fic so far, and I've appreciated all of the follows and feedback. Tune in next week for more Grimm Hour.


	9. Chapter 9

Pyrrha and Ruby stared at the nigh-comatose Jaune as he reached his hand forward, seemed to turn his wrist, then stood staring dumbly at the wall ahead of him. Pyrrha looked questioningly at Ruby. Ruby poked Jaune on the shoulder a few times, as though to ensure he was out.

"He does this sometimes. Apparently." She tapped him on the nose. Still no response.

"That must be how he accesses the room he mentioned, where he obtains the additional Personas for us. How interesting for there to be an entrance here in Muspell. Convenient, as well." She looked Jaune up and down. Whereas Ruby and Pyrrha were wearing their normal school clothes, Jaune was wearing his normal clothes in addition to a very thick leather jacket that he had fully zipped up, despite the temperate weather. He was also wearing a bicycle helmet - strapped beneath his chin - as well pairs of matching elbow and knee pads.

"He looks kinda silly, doesn't he?" Ruby casually mentioned as she used both hands to tilt Jaune's body at a 45 degree angle. He didn't budge in response, simply going along with whatever forces acted upon him.

Pyrrha chuckled. "I suppose so, but safety is paramount. We have our Personas granting us special strength in this hour - increasing our stamina and fortitude. Without a Persona, there's no telling how much damage Jaune can sustain."

"That makes sense... Oh that's fun!" Ruby was discovering that Jaune would remain wherever she posed him. He was currently giving a military salute while standing on one foot. "He's like a really tall action figure!"

Despite her best efforts to retain composure, Pyrrha started a small laughing fit. "Pfft, you should... hahaha... you should probably... pffft... Stop?"

"Stop wha-woah!" Jaune suddenly came back to consciousness. His new balance caused him to immediately slip, sliding his sword across the floor as he fell fat on his face. Ruby held out both hands in an attempt to catch him, but barely missed. "O-ow..."

"Oh Jaune, are you alright?!" Pyrrha's giggles immediately vanished as she rushed to help him up. Ruby helped on the other side until Jaune was standing of his own accord.

"Y-yeah... ow... jeez, that's never happened before." He looked around the room, went over and snatched up his sword, and returned to the girls. "I guess I'll have to be careful when coming back not to lose my footing."

Pyrrha and Ruby exchanged a brief but meaningful glance.

"Were you able to grant us Personas?" Pyrrha looked at him thoughtfully.

"I think so. There's only one way to find out, right?" Jaune checked his person to make sure his makeshift armor was still in place. He nodded to Ruby, who nodded to Pyrrha, and the three of them held their weapons at the ready and approached the door labelled with the roman numeral 1. Ruby opened the door, and a white light emanated outward, engulfing the three of them as the safe room faded from view.

* * *

Jaune blinked and found himself in a strange forest. The sky was dark and void of stars, with only a yellow moon above them - seemingly in the midst of shattering into pieces, but staying still in the sky. The trees were all standing immensely tall, with branches jutting out every which way. Every tree was, apparently, dead - save for the one that they had just walked out of. Turning around, Jaune saw that this tree was alive and had a door carved into it with a large circle on it.

"Is this... Muspell?" He turned to Ruby and Pyrrha, who both nodded in response, both on high-alert for the area around them. There were paths between the trees, and the four of them stood in the middle of a path. They could head either left or right. Ruby immediately started heading down the right side of the path.

As they walked, Jaune kept his hand on his weapon, and he was glad he did so. The first shadows appeared almost immediately. First Jaune saw a red pair of eyes on the road ahead, and as they neared the creature suddenly revealed itself to be a humanoid-looking wolf, with long clawed hands. The creature was masked, like the bird, with the area around the eyes showing a simple blue mask with a 1 at the top of it. Two more identical creatures manifested, seemingly out of nowhere, and opened their maws menacingly at Jaune and his allies.

"Sh-shadows." Jaune announced, his voice unintentionally going up a half-octave as he brandished his sword. Pyrrha and Ruby stepped between the shadows and Jaune. Pyrrha ran forward, spear in hand, and drove it straight into the nearest of the Shadows.

Jaune felt an interesting sensation as the battle began around him. He could instinctively feel that his allies were healthy, and that the enemy was healthy. He couldn't quite explain it; he simply felt that the party was uninjured, and that this was important. As one of the Shadows rushed forward and clawed at Ruby, it barely scratched her, causing Jaune to immediately see Ruby and acknowledge she was at less than full capacity.

"W-woah." Jaune was trying to take it in as Ruby readied her Evoker.

"Garu!" As Ruby called, Tyr once again appeared behind her in his red-caped, half-bodied glory. He raised his sword high and spun it overhead, and in response a whirlwind appeared under the Shadow that had just struck Ruby. The wind knocked the wolf creature into the air, and it fell hard on its back. As it happened, Jaune felt as though he could somehow feel Ruby's power depleting. He wondered if that happened any time the Persona was summoned...

Pyrrha used her shield to deflect an incoming attack from the third Shadow, then rolled to the one on the ground. She jutted her spear into the fallen Shadow's chest, its claws flailing uselessly. Keeping her momentum, she then swung her body around the planted spear, feet colliding with an approaching Shadow. As she kicked, she pulled the spear from its perch inside the previous Shadow and drove it forward in a piercing lunge, striking the new Shadow that she had just kicked in the throat.

In that split instant, Jaune could feel that the Shadows were defeated before they actually disappeared. Much like the bird Shadow he had seen before, their masks began to fall off. Then, the shadows evaporated into small black particles that vanished in the air.

One Shadow remained, and it ran towards Jaune. He tried to remember everything Pyrrha had taught him in that instant. He lowered his center of gravity, raised his sword, and thought about how best to strike at the impending creature. He pulled back, got ready to swing, and...

"Garu!"

And nothing. Another torrent of wind erupted under the Shadow, causing it to fly up into the air and then fall on its backside. Jaune, caught off guard, did not immediately strike at the prone creature. Instead, Ruby rushed forward with her Scythe and struck the Shadow soundly, causing it to vanish like its comrades.

"Woah. You guys are pretty good at this." Jaune acknowledged, trying to hide the defeat in his voice at missing his first real fight. He still read Ruby as slightly injured, with Pyrrha as fully well, despite neither of them having any indication of wear or tear. Was this a power of the Wild Card - to keep tabs on how your allies were doing?

"We've had some practice." Pyrrha said, calmly. "Perhaps the next encounter would be a good time to see if our new Personas will work?"

"Good plan." Jaune chimed, and the three resumed heading down the path.

It was a few minutes before they encountered another Shadow. This one looked like a boar, with long, sharp, intimidating tusks. The creature snorted loudly, wearing a yellow mask with the number 7 on it. It rushed forward, and Ruby and Pyrrha both nodded with their Evokers handy.

"I summon thee!" Pyrrha called, and the sound of a gunshot permeated the area. A small, cute green dog appeared, tongue lolling as it rushed forward from Pyrrha at the creature. The dog dove forward, striking at the boar with its claws before vanishing.

Jaune could somehow sense that it was ineffective against the creature. "I-I don't think that worked! It seems to have some kind of shield."

The boar tapped its hoof on the ground, then rolled forward. It started spinning like a pinwheel, and dove straight for Pyrrha. Pyrrha readied her shield and took the brunt force of the strike. "Oof!" She slid back a few feet, leaving a trail in the ground where her heel dragged along the floor. As she did so, Jaune could immediately sense that she was more than slightly hurt.

"Watch out, it seems to hit pretty hard!" He called out, hoping he was being helpful. There was another gunshot. This time it was Ruby's Evoker, and infront of her sat a small fey woman in a blue leotard. Its four translucent wings fluttered lightly. The pixie spun in a circle and held out its hands. As it did so, a dim blue light washed over Pyrrha's form, and Jaune could immediately tell that she was fully recovered.

"These new Personas are cool!" Ruby cheered happily. "Support Ruby is here for you, Pyrrha. Go get 'em!"

"Right! I summon thee, Baldr!" Pyrra held her evoker under her chin and pulled the trigger. Her Persona manifested above her head, in its full knightly glory.

Just as Juane had seen in the Velvet Room, it was a Persona whose head appeared to be made of pure, glowing yellow light. Its body was that of a knight in armor, wearing red and gold, save that there were no arms. The back of the Persona's greaves were exposed, revealing more glowing yellow light. A spear and a shield spun in a lazy orbit around the Persona, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Baldr floated above Pyrrha, the shield and spear suddenly spinning rapidly. Then, the spear reared back and struck the shield like a mallet hitting a drum. A light formed under the boar, forming some kind of magic-looking sigil. The light grew brighter and brighter, before devouring the boar whole in a blinding flash. As the sigil vanished, the boar was no more.

Baldr disappeared, and Pyrrha turned to smile at the others. "It appears that our test was successful. We do indeed have new Personas, thanks to you Jaune." Her enthusiasm was palpable, and Jaune could feel her earnest thanks as she said so. He was also, honestly, just glad to be helping.

"No problem. Just... happy to help I guess." Jaune blushed lightly as he sheathed his sword. "I can switch it around, too, if you'd rather have the Pixie. I'd have to go back to the room, though."

"Hey, I like Pixie! She seems pretty helpful." Ruby beamed at Jaune. "Thanks for giving us these awesome new skills, Jaune. I'm sure we'll be able to explore Muspell alot more easily now." She held out her hand for a high-five, which Jaune matched happily.

The three of them stood there, revelling in their new victory and power, as a roar erupted throughout the forest. The trees shook where they stood, and the earth itself seemed to quake. The three exchanged worried glances and immediately drew their weapons, looking around in full alert.

"We should proooobably leave." Jaune suggested, looking around to find the source of the noise.

"Aww, but we just got started." Ruby pouted, both hands on her scythe.

"I suggest we head back from whence we came." Pyrrha added, her spear held over her shoulder in a stance that seemed ready to stab anything that came into view.

They gave a unison nod to eachother and started walking cautiously back to the exit. However, after a few steps, they heard the roar once more. The ground shook, the trees shook, and suddenly the group found the source of the roar.

A bear-shaped Shadow, twice the size of the wolf Shadows, was running at them from the direction they had entered. Jaune could see the one living tree in the distance, the one they would have to reach - but there would be no way around this monstrous sized bear. They would have to go through it, but he gulped; he felt it was much more likely that it would go through them first.


	10. Chapter 10

The bear let out a mighty roar as Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ruby stopped in their tracks. They all looked at eachother worryingly, and something in Jaune's head screamed that this creature was more powerful than the other Shadows they had faced in this excursion. Before Jaune could say anything, the bear lumbered forward and drove its claw down at the group. It struck all three of them, sending them back.

Jaune rolled backward, sliding a few feet and nearly falling flat on his rear. He managed to keep himself up though, staring down the Shadow and looking to the left and right. He saw Pyrrha barely manage to right herself, but Ruby went down hard. She fell straight onto her back and skidded across the ground. Jaune could almost feel how much that had to hurt for her.

He was surprised to find that he felt like he was barely damaged, as though he had only taken a small portion of the strike. He looked down at himself and felt, somehow, that he was barely injured.

"Baldr!" Pyrrha was immediately calling on her Persona. Baldr appeared, shield and spear spinning around him, and rushed at the enemy. Baldr gave two rapid-fire thrusts with the spear. As the bear Shadow attempted to strike Baldr, the shield rapidly came up, deflecting the attack before Baldr vanished.

Jaune rushed to Ruby and helped her up in the meantime, looking at the creature as though staring at it would let him see some kind of information about it. He noticed that it was also masked, though its mask was on its protruding belly, an indigo colored one with the roman numeral 11 on it. Unlike the other Shadows they had fought so far, he couldn't tell what was really hurting the beast - it was like the information was just barely out of sight, as though covered by a thin veil.

"D-don't worry, we can do it!" Ruby called as Jaune helped her to her feet. Her Evoker was immediately at her head. "Tyr!" Her Persona appeared above her, sword spinning. A burst of wind appeared beneath the Shadow in an attempt to knock it off balance. Instead, however, the wind travelled around the bear and then blasted right back at Ruby and Jaune. The two found themselves suspended in the air for a split second, then crashed down on the earth.

"Ooph! T-this is bad!" Jaune turned to Ruby who was on the ground beside him. The bear rushed at the prone Jaune and Ruby, but Pyrrha interjected, Evoker under her chin. There was another gunshot and Baldr was there once more. His spear clanged against his shield in a drum-like fashion again, and the sigil of light appeared under the bear. Jaune watched as it grew brighter and brighter as the bear got closer and closer, rushing on all fours. There was a blinding flash...

And the Shadow was still coming. The attack had no effect.

It rushed into Pyrrha, who had a look of shock on her face. It barreled into her, running her over, forcing her to drop her Evoker as it did so. She fell beneath one of its paws, and it raised its other for a fierce strike. It slammed into Pyrrha, who barely brought her shield up in time. She used the brief moments the deflection bought her to stand up, just for the massive paw to come down again. She lifted her shield, but the force of the attack sent her flying.

She lay next to Ruby and Jaune, breathing deeply. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to them. Jaune could see, for the first time, something other than a controlled calm in Pyrrha's face. She looked... scared.

The bear Shadow slowly approached the three prone students, and Jaune turned to Ruby. She was also lying on her back, Scythe in her hand, and she slowly tried to use it to stand. The world seemed to slow down for Jaune as the realization struck him.

 _It's now or never._

Jaune got to his feet, taking one step forward, then another. The bear Shadow kept its approach. Ruby and Pyrrha both shouted Jaune's name, but he felt he could barely hear them. The blood was rushing in his ears - the blood was rushing everywhere. He felt alive with electricity in the moment.

 _At least I'll get to die a hero._

Jaune stood firm as the bear lifted its paw, coming down with a powerful strike. Jaune went for his sword and realized that he had left it on the ground behind him where he fell. He didn't seem to mind though - his body, of its own accord, reached down and picked up Pyrrha's dropped Evoker.

 _Thou art I..._

Jaune stared up defiantly at the creature as its paw continued to descend.

 _And I am thou._

As the claws descended, ready to end Jaune's life, he felt the cold metal of the evoker against his right temple.

 _From the sea of thy soul, I come..._

He felt his finger tickle the trigger. When the claw was a hair's breadth away, he pulled.

 _I am Hodr. I, who cannot see, shall grant you sight!_

Jaune's head snapped violently to the left as a blue fog spilled out of his body. It manifested as his Persona, Hodr, who floated above his head. A giant cross floated above and behind Jaune, with a man in a suit of armor tied upside down to the cross with a series of vines. His head was at the bottom of the cross, his long blonde hair dangling below him. Where his eyes should've been, the vines wrapped tightly around the face, obscuring any features above his mouth from view. In his hands, the Persona held what was presumably his own helmet - like that of a knight's - with the visor down. It placed the helmet on Jaune's head.

The bear shadow reeled back from the energy released with the summoning. Its claw swung wide, and it slid backwards. It stared at Jaune on all fours, seeing a meal. Jaune saw, instead of just a Shadow... everything.

Jaune's world had opened.

Jaune could see a bar beside the creature, like in a video game. The bar had been slightly depleted, but was mostly full. Text manifested infront of the creature, reading 'Callous Ursa - Strength Arcana' then vanished. As he looked at it, he intuitively felt that the creature resisted wind attacks, was immune to light attacks, and that it was weak to ice-based attacks.

Jaune could also feel his allies behind them, and intuitively knew what their Personas were capable of. He knew that none of them could use ice. Cu Sith and Tyr could use Wind, Pixie could use lightning, and Baldr could use light. He could also tell that Baldr allowed Pyrrha to endure alot of damage, but Tyr made Ruby very fast.

"Way to go, Jaune!" Pyrrha called, and he could feel the two standing beside him, ready to face down the Ursa.

"I wouldn't be so happy yet, guys." Jaune's voice not only echoed in the room, but Pyrrha and Ruby felt it in their minds. "From what I can tell, we're still pretty screwed. I don't think my Persona can attack, and this guy's only weak to ice, which none of us have!"

Ruby and Pyrrha looked at eachother with grimaces on their faces. The bear was getting ready to attack again. Pyrrha and Ruby stepped between the Ursa and Jaune, and Jaune could see all of their statistics laid out infront of him. Even with his newfound sight, all he could tell was that it looked hopeless. His persona stayed manifested above him, when suddenly he felt another presence from behind the bear.

"I knew I couldn't trust you not to run off without me." Weiss's voice carried through the forest. She was wearing the same white dress and boots that Jaune had first seen her in, and had a rapier dangling from her belt. She also had an evoker in her hand as she walked towards the bear, which turned to see the newcomer. "The three of you seemed to terribly excited to come here. I hope it was worth it."

"W-Weiss!" Ruby called out. Weiss flipped her hair casually.

"Don't 'Weiss' me!" she shouted, a sharp edge to her voice. "You should've listened. You shouldn't even be here! But here I come to bail you out, because once again you rushed on ahead." She was now standing within swiping distance of the Ursa. "You're lucky I didn't just leave you to the wolves! ... or bears, I suppose."

The bear stood to its full height on its hind legs and brought both claws down at Weiss. Weiss rolled out of the way, coming to a stand with her Evoker at her head. She pulled the trigger, her head snapped back, and her Persona manifested behind her. "Idunne!"

A woman, leaning casually backward in a high-collared dress was floating behind Weiss. The woman's hair was pulled up in a tight, black-as-coal bun. The woman's snow white skin was showing beneath the very deep neckline that ended at her navel. The dress was white, with light blue trim. The woman's blood red lips were perfectly plump, and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses that were rose-colored and in a vague outlined shape of apples.

Jaune thought she looked like a high-fashion super model.

"Bufu!" Weiss called out. The Persona took off its glasses, revealing that it had no eyes udnerneath. The lips parted in a sadistic smile. Idunne spun lightly, causing her dress to twirl as she did so. Her hand that was not holding the glasses was holding a single, bright red ruby apple that seemed to be made of gems. Idunne blew a kiss into the apple, and a sharp shard of ice shot out from the apple towards the Ursa, colliding with its face as it turned to strike at Weiss again.

-CRASH-

The ice collided with the Ursa's forehead and sent the bear tumbling backward. It fell onto its back, hard, causing the earth beneath Jaune's feet to shake as it did so. Jaune could immediately tell that the creature was completely vulnerable. He spoke; Weiss, Ruby, and Pyrrha all heard it in their heads.

"Now's your chance! Attack!"

The three girls all nodded to eachother, weapons at the ready, and dove at the beast. They stabbed into the monster with everything they had, and Jaune saw the creature's vitality vanish from his sight, followed immediately thereafter by the creature itself. It became a puff of black smoke, leaving Weiss, Ruby, and Pyrrha all standing there with weapons drawn. They looked at eachother and smiled - even Weiss.

Jaune's Persona vanished, and he felt a wave of exhaustion come over him. He fell to his knees, looking at the three, and thought about how great they looked as a team. He chuckled to himself. "Hey... go team P-W-R...Power!" he called with his fist in the air, and the three girls rushed to him.

"J-Jaune, are you ok?"

"He must be exhausted, using his Persona for the first time so suddenly

"Hey, Jaune?... you did well."

The last one was Weiss, which surprised Jaune as he looked up and saw their faces around him. "Y-yeah? You think so?" He said, staring at the trio. They all looked down at him with mixes of joy and worry on their faces. They helped him to his feet. "You guys did most of the work, I just... saw stuff..."

"Hey, we're not just team P-W-R." Ruby said, hands on her hips. "It's team J-Power!" She thrust her fist into the air. Weiss and Pyrrha stared at her for a moment, then burst into chuckles. Weiss nearly doubled over with laughter.

"D-did you just make a team name out of our initials?" she managed to gasp out as she laughed. "That's... that's so ridiculous!" She kept chortling, and the contageous laughter spread to everyone but Ruby.

Ruby lowered her fist and crossed her arms infront of her. "I think it's cool! The J stands for Justice!"

The laughter just got louder, and eventually Ruby joined in as well. In that moment, Jaune could feel how good it was to be part of a team. To finally feel useful to someone. To be doing something cool with his life.

 _Thou art I..._

The voice echoed in the back of his mind again.

 _And I am thou..._

 _Thou hast established a new bond..._

 _It gives a new verse to thy story..._

 _Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Fool Arcana..._

"Don't think you're off the hook either," Weiss began a lengthy lecture to the group about 'responsibility' and 'how dare they' and 'what were they possibly thinking'? Jaune smiled to himself as the group headed back to the entrance of Muspell. Despite that scary turn, things were going well. He could tell, now armed with his Persona Hodr, that everything was going to be just fine. He finally felt like he belonged somewhere.


	11. Chapter 11

Wednesday, April 12th - Friday, April 14th

The next few days were a blur of exhausted happiness for Team J-PWR. On the one hand, the events in Muspell had left him - and the team - exhausted. On the other, they were all rather excited at the prospect of working together as a team and exploring Muspell once and for all. Jaune's spirits were further raised as he thought he just might be able to pull off decent grades in his classes.

The team had spoken briefly in the midsts of the week to discuss the rules for exploring Muspell;  
Weiss was de-facto team captaim until Qrow or Yang returned. In her absense, Ruby would lead. (She had tried to talk Pyrrha into being the back-up, but Pyrrha had gracefully declined.)  
At least 3 team members must be present at all times.  
No exploring during important test periods (such as mid-terms or finals).

Even Jaune found the rules reasonable, and he was glad that Weiss was actually taking a liking to the idea of exploring at all. It seemed she really enjoyed the fact that she had not only gotten to use her Persona offensively - but now, with Jaune as the support, she could show off on the frontlines. The only thing that really bothered Jaune about Weiss was that he could not, for the life of himself, establish a Social Link.

They had talked briefly, but Weiss always kept the conversations short and business like. She wasn't as rude as she had previously been, which was a blissful reprieve, but she also had a solid wall around her. Jaune thought that perhaps having an ice queen for a Persona suited her more than she realized.

On Friday night, Jaune was in his room sorting his laundry when the 'Schnee Family - Pure or Putrid' flyer fell out of the pocket. Jaune realized he'd never actually bothered to read it. He gave it a good glance, deciding to see precisely what it said Weiss's family was up to. Maybe something in here would be a conversation starter?

Inside he found a bullet-point presentation on some harshly worded criticism toward the Schnee Company. Supposedly, the entire organization was made of mustache twirling super villains that were capable of anything from tax evasion to slave labor. As Jaune glanced it over, he felt that it was a bit heavy-handed but surprisingly well-written. Perhaps if it were a bit less ruthless, he'd be more enthusiastic about it.

"Blake..." Jaune's mind trailed back to the, in his mind, somewhat shy girl who was trying to spread her message. He made a note to try to run into her again. Maybe he could help her work on her pamphlet, and another Social Link would manifest? In the meantime, he decided that - propaganda in hand - he would try to talk to Weiss.

* * *

Saturday, April 15th

"Hey, there, team captain!" He waved as he passed her on the stairs. Weiss raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hello."

He stopped to talk to her, but she simply kept walking opposite of him, heading upstairs right past him. He turned and started walking to catch up and slipped slightly on the stairs. After getting his footing, he turned to catch up but she had persisted despite his slip and headed straight for her room, which she closed firmly as he reached the landing.

* * *

Sunday, April 16th

"Hey Weiss, how are things?" He chimed from his seat in the dorm lobby, waving enthusiastically as she walked towards the door.

"Things are fine."

Jaune's hand drooped as he heard the door shut behind her as she left without so much as turning to look at him.

* * *

Monday, April 17th

"I don't know, I just can't seem to get her to talk to me." Jaune was walking to the dorms with Ruby again. It had become something of a ritual for the two of them to meet up after their final classes for the day and chit-chat.

"Weiss can be a bit..." Ruby tapped her chin a couple of times with her forefinger, searching for the word. "Frosty. She doesn't open up easily, not even to Pyrrha." She stopped long enough to say, "And she actually _likes_ Pyrrha."

"I just wish I knew how to chat with her. I found this thing..." he pulled out the pamphlet and showed it to Ruby. "Apparently her family does more than own dorms we can live in while we fight monsters."

"Schnee family... pure or putrid?" she looked it over with a frown. "Yeah, I've seen stuff like this before. Her family is supposedly up to some shady business, but anytime someone tries to talk to her about it she gets a little bit touchy."

"So... maybe I shouldn't bring it up?" his nervousness was shining through as they got closer to the dorms.

"Well, I guess if she's yelling at you that _would_ start a conversation!" Ruby gave a wide grin as she held open the door to the dorms for Jaune. Jaune groaned with his head in his hands as they walked inside. Pyrrha looked up at the two from her seat in the lobby and they both waved before sitting down beside her.

"Hello friends, how was your day?" She put down her pencil and looked at them with an earnest smile.

"I can't get Weiss to talk to me, and if Weiss won't talk to me I can't establish a Social Link, and if I can't establish a Social Link I can't give her more Personas." Jaune let out a heavy sigh and fell back into the chair, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Ruby pulled out a couple of cookies and muffled a 'jufft fine' through a full mouth.

"Perhaps you should simply try knocking on her door and honestly asking her to set time aside for you two to chat? As a team leader, even she should see the use of having additional Personas." Pyrrha shrugged, and Jaune and Ruby both nodded in unison.

"That... does sound alot better than just hoping she'll chat when I try to bump into her." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "And she'd probably appreciate that more, being so busy and all."

"It is a good deal more respectful, yes." Pyrrha picked her pencil back up. "Not every girl is keen to simply drop everything for a boy wanting attention." She began writing once more in her notebook while glancing at the textbook on the table. Jaune had a thought that maybe she did that to emphasize her point.

"Right. Well, here goes. I'll try something." He reached into his backpack for a sheet of paper and found the pamphlet, and an idea exploded into his head like a hand grenade. He grapped a pen and scribbled something onto the pamphlet, then headed upstairs with an excited grin on his face. He slid the pamphlet under her door and headed to his room, glad that he finally had a fool-proof plan to get this whole Social Link thing underway.

* * *

Jaune had a textbook open on his desk, as well as a notebook, pencil, and a glass of water. He had created a great environment for studying that night. That environment went undisturbed.

"Hya!"

Jaune was practice swinging the sword Pyrrha had given him. Granted, he didn't quite know what he was doing, but it was much more fun to fight Shadows in his head than try to wrap his head around his math class.

He was mid-swing when he heard a knock at his door. Startled, he slipped and struck a notch into the headboard of the bed with the blade. "I-uh- *cough* coming!" Jaune put the sword away and slid over to the door, cracking it open to find Weiss standing there, arms crossed, holding the pamphlet and not looking happy about it.

"What's this?" Weiss said, holding Jaune's own words at his face. There, beneath 'Schnee Company - Pure or Putrid' were his notes; ' _Hey! Come to my room for a little get together! :)_ ' Personally, Jaune thought the smiley face was a nice addition to let her know it wasn't threatening.

"It's a note, I just uh... hoped we could... uh... talk?" He held the door wide open to allow her inside, gesturing her towards the room as a whole but unfortunately it seemed as though he was guiding her toward the bed. Weiss's feet stayed firmly planted where they were, and she tapped her foot lightly as she held up the pamphlet.

"I... don't even know where to start with how wrong this is." Weiss sighed and massaged her temple with her right hand. Jaune could see a vein pulsing around her forehead. She held out the pamphlet, which Jaune took.

"I thought maaaaybe" he held the pamphlet up with one hand, pointing at it with the other, "you'd want to talk about how awful people think your family is." He held his hands to the side, palms up in a little shrug.

Weiss just stared at Jaune, dumbfounded. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, calming herself. Jaune could feel the tension in the room. "You think I need you to tell me how much people hate my family? I've experienced that almost every day of my life." She cast her eyes downward as she continued, "Do you think it's been easy for me, going to this school with people protesting my very last name? I hate it." She slumped her shoulders, looking at the ground, choking slightly on her words as tears started to form in the corner of her eyes. "I hate that... that people are protesting everything I've grown up in..." she crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly, "even if they might be right."

"W-weiss, I'm so sorry! I didn't... I can't..." he stood up and reached out to touch her. There was a loud staccato snap as she slapped his hand away with her own. The tears started to stream fully down her eyes as she did so. She cast her eyes to the ground as Jaune backed away slowly. Her eyes searched the room, like a cornered animal looking for escape, looking to place the blame somewhere, anywhere... then they narrowed at Jaune as her body stiffened.

"Is that what you wanted to talk about, Jaune?!" Her voice raised as she crossed the threshold from pathetically tearful to petrifyingly angry. "Is that why you slid that piece of propoganda under my door?!" She was breathing heavily, her face going from snow white to apple red.

"N-no, I didn't, I just- I wanted to establish a bond!" Jaune was waving his hands infront of his face, and Weiss stomped her foot on the ground again. The hardwood floor was pitter-pattered by raindrop tears.

"Oh? Is that it?" she shouted, the harshness in her voice blasting through the dorm, "Just because you want to..." she pulled up some air quotes, "establish a bond", she stomped the floor again, "doesn't mean that I need to spend time talking to you! I was not put on this planet, or on this team, just to chit chat and make you feel good about yourself!"

Jaune stood there, completely unaware of what he was supposed to say. Weiss stared daggers into his eyes, and his mind was racing around in circles, unable to make sense of anything. "I- uh, just... I don't..." he kept trying to find the words, but his mouth choked up. He just started to back away from the door.

"Don't even bother!" Weiss reached into Jaune's room, grabbed the handle, and slammed the door shut with Jaune alone inside. He heard her footsteps disappearing down the hall, and sat on his bed with his eyes wide and mouth open. For a few seconds his head was just ringing with incomprehensible noise.

"I... I think I messed up..." he stared down at his hands, and looked at the sword leaning against the closet, and the closed door. Then, despite his best attempts to ignore it, a familiar voice entered his head.

 _Your relationship has soured..._  
 _The Empress Arcana shall exist in Reverse..._  
 _This chapter shall need mending if thy story is to move forward..._  
 _A bond shalt not be established until you have reconciled..._

* * *

Hi! Kinnakoa here. You might have noticed I have shiny new cover art! This comes from my wonderful friend notsogingerweasley_art on instagram. If anyone wants to send some positivity and affection their way, feel free!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more Grimm Hour next week.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey Jaune, I take it things went a little south?" Ruby's feet dangled over the side of the roof as she turned around and saw him coming through the door. The sun had already set, and stars were popping up over the city. Jaune took a deep breath as he crossed the roof and sat down next to Ruby, facing away from the ledge.

"... I take it you heard the whole thing?" He said, looking up at the stars. He felt... muted. Like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel, or how he was supposed to feel different. Everything in his head was radio static.

"Mostly just the part where she screamed at you." She looked down at her boots. "Sorry..." She felt Jaune's hand on her shoulder, patting her lightly.

"It's not your fault." He turned to face Ruby, and she smiled at him. "I should've planned that better..." He frowned. "The voice in my head said that I won't be able to make a Social Link with Weiss until everything is fixed..." He let a deep breath out. "So much for making the team better..."

"What do you mean?!" Ruby stood up, which nearly gave Jaune a heart attack given that she was on the very ledge of the roof when she did it. She pointed down at him. "You gave us awesome Personas! You're the one who bought time for Weiss to show up! Also, you can see enemy weaknesses!"

Jaune let out another deep sigh. "But Weiss is the one who came in and saved the day..." He slumped his shoulders and stared at the door to the roof. "I just wanted to make us stronger as a team..."

"You do, Jaune." Ruby popped back down, this time facing the same way as Jaune. "Just by being part of the team, you make us stronger. And sure, you couldn't form a social link with Weiss, but maybe you could form one with someone else?"

"Like... maybe someone whose not on the team?" Jaune's mind flashed back to Blake, how he recieved the pamphlet from her... how she seemed to need a friend. He nodded to himself. "I think I have someone in mind... thanks Ruby... again." He smiled at her, and wondered, slightly, if he was being a burden.

"It's ok Jaune. We've gotta get through this together... I'm here whenever you need me." She reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, and pulled him in. Jaune's eyes went wide with surprise. He paused for a moment, not sure what to do. After a few seconds, his hands came up and hugged her back. "You're awesome Jaune." She whispered into his ear, "we're glad to have you here."

Jaune's eyes teared up a little, but he took a deep breath and held back the tears. He couldn't stop himself from choking as he said, "Th-thanks Ruby." He looked past her at the stars in the night sky and slowly closed his eyes.

 _Thou art I..._  
 _and I am thou..._  
 _Thy story progresses to the next chapter..._  
 _Thy Personas of the Magician Arcana shall be stronger..._

* * *

Tuesday, April 18th

As Jaune headed between classes, he saw Blake standing in the courtyard with a small handful of the 'Pure or Putrid' papers. She was trying to pass them out, but seemed like her heart wasn't in it, like she was distracted. One or two students walking past grabbed a flyer or two, but Jaune watched as at least one immediately dropped it in the nearest trash bin.

"Heeeyyy Blake. What's up?" Jaune walked up to her, putting on his best smile.

She looked up with a somewhat glazed look over her eyes, then seemed to shake herself out of it when she made eye contact with Jaune. A gentle smile crossed her lips as she waved to him, and he waved back. "Hey there, it's good to see you."

"Soo..." he put his hands in his pockets, rocking on the heels of his shoes. "How's business?" He looked around at the students passing by, forming a small break in the crowd to go around them, like a river breaking over a boulder. "Seems like you managed to hand out a few pamphlets, yeah?"

Blake pushed her hair behind her ear and shrugged, her smile quickly disippating. "Not... not so much, I'm afraid. I've been trying, but no one really wants to listen to what I have to say..." she looked around again at all of the students passing them by, blatantly ignoring her.

"Well... I'm inbetween classes right now, if you need someone to listen." Jaune shrugged, Blake smiled, and the two of them headed away from the other students, walking through the courtyard until they found themselves seated at a small bench that faced toward the school. After a few moments of awkward silence and shuffling, Jaune decided to speak up. "So... why did you start handing out these pamphlets?"

"My parents, I guess. My whole family has been affected by the Schnee family in one way or another..." she looked at her hands and looked back up at the school. "They were actually not... entirely behind the idea of me coming here in the first place since Beacon has ties to the Schnee company."

"But you came anyway?" Jaune looked at her. "And who was that guy you got in a fight when we met? Is he protesting the Schnee family too?" Genuine concern was written on his face, and in his mind he couldn't help but wonder if he was doing this right.

"Oh, um... that's..." Jaune saw her face flush with red as she smiled softly. "That's Adam. We came here together, from Menagerie. He's... um..." she started speaking a little faster, her blushing more prominent, "kinda my... boyfriend. I guess. Not that we put a label on it or anything." She gave a nervous laugh and put her hand on the back of her neck.

"He seemed kinda angry about something. Like, scary angry." Jaune leaned closer to Blake and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Is... is he ok? He's not like... hurting you or anything?"

Blake gave a small *snrk* that burst into a loud, laughing smile. "N-no. He would never hurt me, Jaune. He just..." she looked off into the distance for a moment, growing quiet again. There was a pause as she regained her thoughts. She at Jaune and for the first time he noticed that her eyes reminded him of staring into a cat's. "The Schnee company practically has kind of an unchecked monopoly in Menagerie, Jaune. There, they treat alot of their employees like slaves... despicably low wages, terrible healthcare, unsafe and unchecked factory conditions..." she sighed, looking back toward Beacon. "In Menagerie, it was hard for my family to find a job outside of working for them. My parents and a group of others tried to get everyone together to complain, to do something about it, but..." she closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. "They just laid off most of their workers and hired ones that would keep their mouths shut."

Jaune could hear the increasing venom in her voice as she spoke. She said 'Schnee' like it was a curse word. "So your parents... worked for them? Adam's too?"

Blake nodded. "It wasn't so bad for my parents, but... Adam's parents could barely keep their heads afloat after they were fired. If it weren't for the people around him being so charitable, he probably would've starved on the street..." she sighed. "He wants the Schnee company to pay for what happened to his family, and he's getting reckless about it. He's just very passionate, Jaune." She slumped back into the bench. "I'm afraid he's going to do something stupid."

"I guess that makes sense. I'd be upset too, if it were me..." He gave her a smile, and she gave him one back. Not sure what to say, Jaune and Blake just sat in silence as sun continued its lazy arc across the sky. Blake looked at Jaune and blinked.

"Wait, I thought you were inbetween classes when we started talking? Don't you have to get going soon?" She made to stand, but Jaune just waved his hand.

"I'm already late, I think I'll just skip it. I'm sure it'll be fine." He shrugged, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back on the bench.

 _It's not like I really get what's going on in that class anyway..._

"Oh, alright... well, thanks for listening, Jaune. It felt good to let this all out." She looked up and smiled, and Jaune returned it. "To be honest, coming from Menagerie means I don't actually know anyone here but Adam... and everyone else just knows me as the weird pamphlet girl. So... yeah, thanks."

"No problem, Blake. Anytime." He stood up and offered her his hand. She grabbed it and pulled herself to her feet, and as she did so Jaune could feel their connection spark in the back of his mind.

 _Thou art I... and I am thou..._  
 _Thou hast established a new bond..._  
 _It gives a new verse to thy story..._  
 _Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Lovers Arcana..._

They said their goodbyes, and Jaune couldn't help but smile on his way back to the dorm. Blake and Adam... this would give him something to think about instead of the awful feeling that Weiss left him with. It seemed that for every relationship he could royally screw up, there was another one out there ready to brighten up his life a little.


	13. Chapter 13

Thursday, April 20th

"Alright Ruby, it's time for a wind attack!" Jaune called out from behind the group. His Persona, Hodr, was behind him holding the knight helm over Jaune's head. He could see everything in plain sight - the Agitated Beowulf enemies were falling left and right. Ruby used her scythe to cut the legs out from under one, and Pyrrha stabbed it directly in the head. A Bristled Boarbatusk rushed them, but Pyrrha's gun was already to her head.

"I summon thee!" Baldr was there instantly, and a brilliant light consumed the Boarbatusk entirely, making it seem as though the creature was never there to begin with. Pyrrha spun her spear expertly and placed it on her back, and Ruby smiled while holding her Scythe. The two nodded to each other.

Weiss, however, was another story. Used to being the one with all of the information, she was clearly struggling to eliminate enemies. Ruby had spent a decent bit of her energy using Pixie to heal her.

"Keep your head in the game, Weiss." Ruby chimed as she tended to Weiss's wounds. Pixie floated infront of Ruby, washing her blue fairy light over Weiss's form, instantly closing the gash Weiss had earned on her forearm. "Just a little further and Jaune thinks we'll have fully explored this floor."

"Well, that's reassuring, since Jaune clearly has such a tactful mind." Her words came out cold as ice, absolutely frigid with sarcasm. She shot him a hateful glare and pulled her sword back up, brandishing it lightly and returning to her fencer's stance as a few more Beowulfs approached.

"Ruby's low on energy, so Pyrrha should probably hold the- Weiss, what are you doing?" Jaune called as Weiss dashed forward to meet the enemies head on. The three Beowulfs came at her, claws out. Weiss deftly pierced one straight ahead, stabbing it through the chest, then back flipped and spun to slash the other two as they approached her. This only succeeded in driving them back slightly, doing no significant damage.

The sound of her Evoker triggering echoed throughout the forest and suddenly Idunne was there, blowing into her apple and sending an ice shard at one of the Beowulfs, hitting it hard in the chest and sending it into oblivion. During that time, another Beowulf was right on Weiss, ready to tear into her flesh. Before Weiss could react, its claws scratched across her gut.

Pyrrha was there less than a split second later, impaling the Beowulf on her spear with one hand and bashing it in the head with her shield in the other. It went down after only two or three blows. The third Beowulf went for Weiss from the other side, but Ruby was there to intercept, using Tyr's wind to knock it off of its feet, followed by an easy kill with her Scythe while it was helpless on the ground.

"See? That wasn't so bad. Jaune's not always right." Weiss said, trying to ignore the slash across her gut. It wasn't fatal, but it hurt like crazy. Ruby and Pyrrha gave her an exasperated look.

"You may be our leader Weiss, but Jaune has the best information to give us tactical advice, thanks to his Persona." Pyrrha walked over to Weiss, placing a hand on Weiss's stomach. "Your recklessness is getting you injured. We need you to be calm." Pyrrha looked Weiss dead in the eyes. Weiss tried to match in a staring contest, but eventually just cast her gaze downward.

"I-I am being calm. Clearly it's you all who need better reaction time." She sheathed her sword and started walking forward, but Ruby interjected herself, hands outward, blocking Weiss's path. Weiss stared daggers at her. "Move."

"No. I won't, Weiss. You can't keep acting like this." Ruby held her ground, a defiant fire in her eyes. Pyrrha came up behind Weiss, placing a hand on her shoulder. Weiss tried to shrug it off while staring at Ruby, but Pyrrha's hand remained firm. Jaune simply stood to the back a few feet away. He thought about approaching Weiss, but given their conversation the previous night...

Weiss looked from Ruby to Pyrrha, then back to Jaune, then at the surrounding scenery of Muspell. She flipped her hair. "Fine. Let's just get this over with." Pyrrha and Ruby nodded to eachother, and started heading down the path together. They approached the end of the path - it stopped at a gargantuan tree that had a knothole near its base that each one could easily fit through. Past the opening was a pitch, unforgiving darkness.

"A-are we supposed to go inside?" Jaune inquired as he peered past the girls. "Maybe this is where this part of Muspell ends?" He looked around for branching paths and found none. This was the dead end.

"Perhaps we should at least investigate this... entrance?" Pyrrha said as she tried to lean closer to the hole. "Though it seems we cannot see into it, no matter how close we are." She gently placed the tip of her spear into the hole, and part of it simply disappeared into the black as soon as it passed the threshold.

"So we'll be going in blind?" Ruby glanced worryingly across the group. "That sounds like a terrible idea with how things have gone so far. I feel like I might even be out of energy soon with all the healing I've done." Ruby didn't mean to stare at Weiss as she said it, but her eyes met Weiss' just briefly.

"Oh, so it's my fault you can't manage your Personas better?" Weiss rolled her eyes, placing her hand on her sword. "I guess two Personas made things too confusing for you."

"Well I'M not the one running ahead and getting themselves hurt just because they don't wanna listen to Jaune!" Ruby was pointing at Weiss, almost reaching a shouting volume as their argument escalated.

"Let's just try to remain cal-" Pyrrha tried to interject, but Weiss cut her off.

"You're not so perfect either, Pyrrha. What happened to being my teammate? It seems all you want to do is listen to that buffoon-" she pointed at Jaune, stomping her heel on the ground as she did so, "just because he finally got his Persona. Don't forget I'm the one who saved you all last time because YOU-" she levelled her finger at Pyrrha, whose eyes widened in respone "-couldn't be bothered to listen to me!"

"G-guys?" Jaune said, trying to approach the situation.

"Maybe not now, Jaune." Ruby said, eyes narrowing at Weiss. "Miss Ice Queen wants to have a breakdown because it's not all about her anymore!"

"If YOU had just listened to me, we would have Yang and Qrow with us and this wouldn't even be a problem!" Weiss retorted.

"You leave my family out of this!" Ruby's scythe came up with a loud 'shink' as it passed through the air in a blur, landing within Ruby's grip as she readied her battle stance. Pyrrha and Weiss did the same, weapons drawn, and an aggressive silence followed as they met in a standoff. All of their faces were flushed with red, and Jaune looked at them; he was completely unsure of what to do, but his heart was telling him to do... something. Anything. His head was filling with static again. He thought about his friends fighting and something welled up inside of his chest.

"WAIT A SECOND!" Jaune's voice echoed across Muspell, bursting through the silence. The girls all stopped and turned, surprised by the sudden outburst. Jaune looked at them each in turn, his hands and legs shaking slightly. "S-stop fighting with each other. It's my fault, ok? I take the blame. If I hadn't messed up with Weiss, if I hadn't agreed to go with you guys, we wouldn't be here... no one should be yelling at anyone but me." He raised his arms and let them drop, deflating with a defeated sigh.

He looked down at his feet, surprised at how easy it was to say that... and how true it felt. Ruby and Pyrrha shared a concerned glance, but Weiss just crossed her arms and gave a small 'hmph.' Pyrrha approached Jaune and touched his elbow, but Jaune just took a step back.

"Let's... let's just go. We can try again later." With that, he started walking back to the entrance to Muspell. The rest of the team glanced at each other and followed suit. It was a quiet, tense journey back to the dorm. As the group entered, they all immediately split off to their separate rooms, each giving a half-hearted 'good night' as they did so.

As Jaune laid his head down, he couldn't quite escape the feeling that he was still messing up. Something sat heavy on his chest - something he should've told the group a while ago. Maybe, just maybe, if he was actually honest with himself, the group wouldn't be so ready to fall apart. Maybe, just maybe, he could own up and stop feeling like such a burden. As the 'maybe's and 'might be's floated around in his head, Jaune slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

That night, on the streets of Vale, a brick broke through the window of a door of a small shop selling Schnee Company products. A figure cloaked in black reaches in and twists the door knob from the other side, letting themselves in. Their face is protected by a mask, and they glance around slowly, doing their best to control their breathing.

Cautiously and carefully, boots avoid the broken glass and make their way to the far wall. A small can of red spray paint emerges. After a few minutes, the can falls to the floor and the figure leaves the way it came, leaving the door wide open as they disappear back into the streets of Vale.

Friday, April 21st

An old man comes into his shop in the early dawn to find his door wide open. A concerned woman looks at him and frowns, pointing to the far wall where a message is written in bright red. A stylized snowflake, the symbol of the Schnee Company, seems to bleed down the walls with a hastily written script beside it;

"The snow runs red with blood."


	14. Chapter 14

After class, Jaune was on his way to meet up with Ruby when he passed through a horde of students meandering through campus. He merged in with the crowd, letting his thoughts wander as he auto-piloted toward their meet-up location next to the door to the Velvet Room. He wondered how Blake was doing, and what he was going to do about the whole Weiss situation...

"Jaune! It's good to see you."

Somewhere from out of the crowd, Blake was suddenly beside Jaune. He didn't even see her approach, and it nearly gave him a heart attack to see her keeping perfect step with him out of nowhere. "H-wo-hi-uh Hey, hey Blake!" Jaune managed to stutter out finally.

"I was wondering..." she began as they pushed their way out of the crowd, heading straight for the tower where Ruby was waiting, "if you had heard the news about last night?" She was holding a book in her hands. Jaune gave it a quick glance and could see "Ninjas in Love" written on the spine.

"Uhh, I don't really follow the news all that well..." Jaune thought about how his night really went, and wondered how Blake would react to the fact that he was in a magic version of Beacon that was an arena for fighting shadows with his Persona alongside team J-PWR... was he really using that name now?

"Apparently a store related to the Schnee company was vandalized." Blake said it matter-of-factly. If there was any hint of panic in her voice, Jaune couldn't find it. As she said it the two of them approached Ruby, who was waving at Jaune with a somewhat confused expression toward Blake.

"Hi there, I'm Ruby! Are you guys talking about the break-in?" She leaned forward away from the tower, eyes hopping between earnest and concnerned as she looked from Jaune to Blake. "Supposedly someone's got it out for Weiss's family."

"Hello." Blake began bluntly. "Supposedly they tagged the walls with the phrase, 'The Snow Runs Red With Blood'." She looked at Jaune, then to Ruby, then back to Jaune. "I was hoping I could talk to you about it, Jaune." Her eyes settled on Ruby again. "Preferably alone."

Jaune raised his eyebrows at Blake and looked over to Ruby, who was shrugging. "Um... Ruby, this is Blake. Blake, this is Ruby. She's pretty cool - I think we should let her in on the conversation. Are you..." he paused, thinking about the most delicate way to phrase his next question... "Are you afraid Adam had something to do with it?"

Blake's eyes widened at the mention of her beau. She cast her glance aside, then took a deep breath. "Yes. That's... that's exactly what I'm afraid of." She looked at Ruby. "I... I hope I'm not intruding, it's just... I don't know who else to talk to." She looked back to Jaune.

"I like books." Ruby chimed in the middle of the conversation, pointing to the book in Blake's hand. "My sister used to read to me all the time when I was little. I think it had alot to do with me growing up to be who I am now." She stood up, holding out her hand toward Blake. "If Jaune and I can do anything to help, we'd be happy to. Right, Jaune?"

Blake blushed slightly as she shook Ruby's hand. "I... that's really cool. I don't really... know what to do about it yet. I don't want to report Adam to the police but... he hasn't been responding to my messages..." she fiddled with the ribbon in her hair for a moment. "I just... I was hoping Jaune could help me find out if it's really him."

"Y-yeah! I'd be happy to help. I... don't really know where to start though." He looked to Ruby, and to Blake. Ruby smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Well, three heads are better than one Blake. We can get our friend Pyrrha to help too. We'll have this case cracked in no time." She smiled a big bright-eyed smile, and Blake couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you. It... it means alot." She beamed to Jaune and Ruby, and then looked around as an awkward silence settled on the trio. She coughed politely. "Um... here's my number. In case you find anything." Ruby and Jaune flipped open their phones and added her quickly. "Thanks again." She smiled. "I um... have somewhere to be." She waved and started to shuffle away quickly, leaving Jaune and Ruby alone.

"See? I told you you'd make a new friend." Ruby said, smiling from ear to ear. "Who needs bossy Weiss anyway?"

"Thanks for that, by the way." Jaune said as he watched Blake leave. "Blake gave me another Social Link. I wanna check out the Velvet Room and see what's changed... she'll be the first person not on the team to give us a Persona to use."

"OH! That's a good idea. Well, you do your thing, I'll stand watch." Ruby smiled, leaning against the tower. Jaune shrugged and reached into his pocket. Ruby watched as Jaune pulled something invisible out of his pocket, held it up to the door, and turned his wrist.

* * *

"Mister Arc, it's been too long."

Jaune glanced up from his desk to see the same old Velvet Room. This time, however, there was no one next to Ozpin's desk. He was alone, his bespectacled eyes staring straight into Jaune. The board displayed, written in chalk, the word 'Fusion.'

As Jaune glanced around he could see the Ruby and Pyrrha dolls in their normal seats - however, off to the side, away from the group, sat a matching Blake doll with a card infront of her as well. The Weiss doll, though here, was leaning over its desk, like a student sleeping in class, obscuring all of her cards from Jaune's reach.

"It seems you've had quite some social interraction since we've last met." Ozpin steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair. "An arcana in reverse... what a shame. But new friends made at the same time. Such is life, young man. We cannot hope to move forward without risking a step or two backward."

Jaune frowned as he looked to the Weiss doll, but was happy to see Blake there. He glanced at the cards on his desk. Cu Sith and Pixie were still on the desks of Pyrrha and Ruby, but now he had three new cards sitting infront of him to be grasped. They were to the side, face down. His own Persona, Hodr, stared up at him from the large 'Fool' Arcana card that sat infront of him.

One was of a mostly naked man wrapped only in a red cloth, with long flowing blond hair that was growing a simple flower atop of it. The card read 'Narcissus' of the Lovers Arcana. Next to it was a creature seemingly made entirely out of heads, all mouths agape, like a giant ball of faces. It read 'Legion' of the Fool Arcana. The last showed a horse standing on its hind legs, with hands instead of hooves raised to the sky. It read 'Orobos' of the Magician Arcana.

"Sweet, new Personas to play with." Jaune smiled to himself, grabbing both cards. He stood, and went to put the Legion card on Pyrrha's desk infront of him. Before he finished, he heard a cough from behind the teacher's desk.

"Ahem, perhaps now would be a good time to begin an important lesson for anyone holding the Wild Card." He gestured lazily to the blackboard. "It is time for you to learn Fusion." Ozpin gestured to Jaune to come to the teacher's desk. Jaune did so, placing the cards infront of Ozpin.

"With the power of fusion," Ozpin began, "you will be able to take two or more Personas that you have obtained and fuse them together to create an even more powerful Persona." Ozpin took the cards and flipped them face down, spinning them in wide circles around the desk infront of him. "The resulting Persona will carry traits of the originals, but will be a new creature all its own. This will be a significant boon in the trials that you are to face."

"Well, I guess I should keep Orobos..." Jaune looked at the card and simply knew that it provided fire skills, something that the team lacked thus far. "In that case I'll try fusing Narcissus and Legion." He took Orobos back, leaving the other cards down.

"Perfect. The resulting Persona will be of the Priestess Arcana, a Social Link you have yet to establish. This means that the resulting fusion will not be as strong as it were had you already established this connection, but it shouldn't be a problem. The resulting Persona will still be more than able to assist you." Ozpin smiled as the two cards floated off of the table, still spinning around eachother in mid-air. As they collided with eachother, a dim blue light surrounded them, growing brighter until there was a blinding flash.

The newly manifested persona card floated down onto the desk infront of Jaune. Jaune picked it up, and looked it over. A pure white horse with a long, thin horn stared at him from the card, reading 'Unicorn' of the Priestess Arcana. "There doesn't seem to be a whole lot to it. I just bring you cards and bam, new Persona?"

"More or less." Ozpin smiled. "There is an art to it, you see. The stronger your links, the more powerful the resulting fusion will be."

Jaune nodded, grabbing the card and turning around to scan the seats. He walked over to Blake, with a curious look on his face, and dropped the Unicorn card onto it... as he half-expected, absolutely nothing happened. "I guess you have to already have a Persona to make it work." He then meandered over to Ruby and Pyrrha's desks, but then stood there for a moment looking at his own.

"I have Hodr now!" he was so excited to accept his new Persona, Jaune had completely forgotten that this meant that he had the chance to use new Personas as well. He slid the Unicorn down onto his desk and waited for it to light up... nothing happened. "... huh?" He picked up Unicorn and placed it back down... still nothing.

"Are you having trouble, Mister Arc?" Ozpin leaned down, glancing over his glasses sitting at the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps," he said calmly, "your personality has not yet matured enough to endure the hardship of multiple Personas."

"That's..." Jaune looked at the Unicorn sitting on his desk. He clenched his fist slowly, looking around the classroom. He saw Ruby and Pyrrha's dolls, their personas infront of them. He saw Blake sitting over in the corner... and he saw Weiss, face down. He glanced from Weiss to the dim card on his desk, and thought only of his failures. "That's not fair." He mumbled to himself.

"Speak up, Mister Arc. It's quite hard to hea-"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Jaune pulled his fist into the air and brought it down on the Unicorn card, onto his desk, hard.

-WHAM-

"I do all of this work! I establish social links! I fight in that dungeon! I work with my friends!" He gestured to the Ruby and Pyrrha dolls sitting there. "Why do I have to sit in the back row?"

-WHAM-

His fist came down again. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Why do Pyrrha and Ruby get to fight for themselves while I'm stuck here... sitting on the backline..." he exhaled slowly as he slumped into the desk. "Why can't I do anything right?"

He put his hands over his face and breathed deeply, pushing back the tears and the warmth he could feel flooding toward his face. He sat there for a long moment, in the dim blue Velvet Room. Ozpin sat and stared at him, motionless.

Jaune slowly removed his hands to see the transparent, floating figure of Hodr staring back at him on his desk. The Unicorn card was still dim. He directed his anger at his Persona, then at himself, then the rising heat just gave way to a feeling of worthlessness. Then, Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder.

He jerked up and saw that Ozpin was no longer sitting behind the teacher's desk. Now, he had a hand placed gently on Jaune and was looking down at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. Ozpin gave a very calm, gentle smile that Jaune had never seen before.

"Sometimes, Mister Arc..." he began, an almost wistful tone in his voice, "it's not about being on the frontlines. Sometimes, Mister Arc, being a hero means simply doing what we are able, when we are able, to the best of our abilities."

Jaune looked up and met Ozpin's gaze, and he felt himself calming down. He felt the water fading from his eyes, he felt the warmth fading from his cheeks. He continued to breathe deeply as Ozpin continued.

"And most importantly-" Ozpin adjusted his glasses and began to walk back to the front of the classroom. "Sometimes, Mister Arc, one simply needs to realize that life is a team sport, and one that can not - and should not - be played alone."


	15. Chapter 15

As Jaune came out of the Velvet Room, Ruby could immediately see the shift in his composure to a much more somber Jaune. He looked over at her with a half-hearted smile, and Ruby immediately walked up and put a hand on his shoulder, looking up at him.

"Jaune, are you O.K.?" she shook him slightly, and he nodded, swallowing hard as he began to speak.

"R-ruby... can I talk to you about something? Something important?"

"Of course Jaune." she blinked her big silver eyes at him, and he sighed.

They began their walk back to the dorms, Jaune looking up to collect his thoughts. He played with his fingers anxiously as he tried to put words together. His mind seemed like a jumble... eventually, he realized that the right thing to do - the only thing to do, was just to spit it out. He took a breath in and began to speak.

"Ruby, I don't belong here."

"Jaune, that's silly-"

"Please, just... let me finish." He looked over at Ruby and she looked startled for a moment, then she nodded with a bit of a frown. "I don't mean that I'm not qualified, or that I'm not confident, or that I wish I were better at things... I mean, those are all true, but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean I literally don't belong here."

He held up his hands and gestured to all of Beacon, taking in everything around him. The class buildings, the clocktower, the trees and grass and walkways of the courtyard all seemed so surreal to him now that he was saying this out loud. He looked over to Ruby, who simply looked at him attentively.

"It was my dad's idea." He shrugged his shoulders. "My grandpa was such a great guy, and my dad's pretty successful, but me..." He looked down at his feet. "I just never could seem to get anything right. I passed most classes by the thinnest margins. I didn't really pay attention in class, or in sports... I mostly just played video games." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess... I never really realized how much it would matter. Life just seemed to happen to me no matter what I did, so I figured... why bother?"

Jaune looked at Ruby, who once again nodded, looking at him with an expression that showed... not pity, but sympathy.

"Anyway, so... he faked my transcripts. He found a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy, and before I knew it I was here. I got into this awesome school without any real credentials. It's... kind of a miracle I'm keeping up with class at all. So..." he sighed again, kicking a stray stone on the walkway as they continued, "that's what I mean when I say I don't belong. I mean... I don't... belong here."

He felt Ruby's reassuring hand on his elbow, and she held his shirt slightly. As she stopped walking, so did he. Ruby looked Jaune up in the eyes, and he felt reassured just staring down into hers.

"Jaune, it's not a miracle that you're keeping up. It's that sharp brain of yours. I get why you'd think you don't belong here... I know that it's hard to feel out of place." She looked down just for a moment, then met his gaze again. "But trust me, Jaune. Trust me as your friend, and as your teammate. You. Do. Belong."

She grabbed Jaune with both arms and hugged him around his midsection, putting her ear against his chest. "You belong here. You belong with us. Even if it's been hard sometimes, but... you didn't give up. You didn't give up on me and Pyrrha in Muspell. You didn't give up on Weiss even when she kept shoving you aside. You even met Blake, and you keep getting new Personas to help us out. Sure you're going to trip, and you're going to fall, and it's going to be hard, but..." she looked up into Jaune's eyes again. "You belong. So don't give up, ok?"

Jaune just stood there, shocked once again. Between Ozpin and Ruby, Jaune felt something deep and hard solidify in his heart. Something primal and lifelike. He felt his own heartbeat against Ruby's head, and felt, just for a moment, completely aware. He looked around and realized that... they were right. Ruby was right, Ozpin was right, Pyrrha was right. Jaune realized that where he was, here in Beacon, was where he wanted to be - where he was meant to be. It's where he had his friends - friends who gave him purpose.

Jaune smiled down at Ruby and small tears were forming in his eyes as he hugged her back, putting all of his strength into squeezing her. Ruby let out a small mix between a yelp and a chuckle, and hugged him even harder back. They stayed that way for a solid moment, just squeezing eachother, reaffirming to eachother that they were both there.

When they separated, Jaune smiled an unbridled, uncontrolled smile that made him look a bit of a mess beneath all of the tears. "Ruby... thanks." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his forearm. "I just... I never told anyone that, and... thanks." He kept smiling, glancing down at her as she beamed back. "You always make me feel like I matter."

In response, Ruby reached out and poked Jaune in the sternum. "Well, you definitely feel like matter to me."

Jaune just stared open mouthed at her, and then laughed a good, solid, hearty laugh. He felt the weight of his previously held secret dissipating with each chuckle. As he and Ruby continued home, Jaune's footsteps felt lighter, and the world around him felt clearer. Like looking at a previously muddled picture, now in perfect definition. Jaune walked through the doors with Ruby into the dorms... into his home.

* * *

Saturday, April 22nd

"So this Blake believes that her boyfriend may be the cause of the recent vandalism case?"

Pyrrha held a teacup to her lips as she finished her sentence, sipping gently on something that Jaune felt smelled delightfully floral. She was wearing a simple red tank top with a small gold-colored jacket. Her capris were also gold, and her shoes were wrap-around sandals. She placed the teacup back down and crossed her legs, looking between Jaune and Ruby.

"Right." Jaune said with certainty. His casual wear consisted of a simple blue t-shirt with a light white and grey hoodie, a pair of blue jeans, and some white sneakers. "They both have family that's been hurt by the Schnee family, but Blake says Adam has always been pretty angry about it."

Ruby nodded. She was in the same outfit Jaune had first seen her in - her oversized hoodie and black shorts with black boots. "There was another one this morning, wasn't there? And both stores sell Schnee brand products, so he might be getting more dangerous."

Pyrrha put her hand beneat her chin and stared at the coffee table thoughtfully. "Perhaps," she began, "if we can catch him in the act, that would be enough to scare him off?"

"That could work. What if..." Jaune looked at Ruby and Pyrrha. "So... normal people turn into coffins during the Grimm Hour, right?"

"Right." Ruby chimed.

"What if we just waited until the Grimm Hour, searched his next most likely targets, and then we just surround him while he's a coffin?" He held his hands out. "Then when he comes to, we'll just already be there ready to take him in." He clapped his hands together, looking - he hoped - like bars shutting down on Adam.

"That's a very tactful idea, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled at him, nodding slowly. Ruby did the same. "With the four of us, it'll be a rather simple thing to overpower him, no matter how strong he is."

"Actually..." Ruby said, glancing between the two of them. "Weiss... didn't even come to the dorms last night. She hasn't answered my calls either... she must be really upset. I think... maybe it should just be the three of us?"

Jaune looked between the two of them. "I think... that's for the best. At least until I settle things with her." He nodded to Pyrrha and Ruby. "And I'll be sure to do my best on that part. I promise. I don't want this team to feel tense because of me."

"That's quite mature of you." Pyrrha said with a soft smile. "I agree, then. Just the three of us for tonight. Since we won't be dealing with any shadows, it should be much safer than last time. We'll tell Weiss all about it when she's ready to come home. I imagine right now she's probably relaxing at a hotel and spa nearby."

"We should probably each hit one of the stores." Ruby said, glancing up from her phone. "While I'm sure the cops are going to be out and about as much as they can tonight, we can just spread out and cover every place we can. Then when one of us finds him, we can meet up to surround him!"

"Perfect!" Jaune leaned in, rubbing his hands together. "So operation Grabbin' Adam is a go?"

"If, in fact, it is Adam." Pyrrha said calmly. "We should avoid jumping to conclusions. Let's see what we can do."

* * *

As the moon began to rise over Vale, Blake's searching the streets finally bore fruit. A small warehouse near the docks of the city had a slightly cracked door. Most of the cops were covering Schnee company property after the last two break-ins. There was only one half-awake security guard for Blake to avoid on her way sneaking in.

As she walked through the dimly lit corridor, she found her mark. His long black trenchcoat gave him away, and he was wearing a white and red mask as he turned and saw her. His mouth from beneath his mask went from a calm smile to a worried frown.

"You really shouldn't be here Blake, you could get hurt." He held out his hand, but Blake kept approaching. Adam was standing next to a chair that was clearly occupied.

"I know, Adam. I just... I needed to make sure you were ok." She broke into a run and reached Adam, pulling him close to her. "I'm just glad your safe."

Adam hugged her back with one hand, and gave a sharp inhale. When they broke, Adam looked down at her. "Sorry for abandoning you. I take it this means you want to help me spread our message?"

"Adam... no, you've got to stop. This is..." she sighed, putting her hand on her head. "Two vandalisms, Adam? You could get in serious trouble."

"I'm way past that now." Adam said with a calm finality that almost made Blake's heart stop. "I found a solution, Blake. The Schnee company is going to give us what we want, I swear it."

Blake backed away from Adam and heard something moving beside her. She, for the first time, actually noticed the person in the chair beside him. They were tied to the seat tightly with ropes, with a piece of tape over their mouth. They wore a white dress, and had their hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail. Blue eyes shot up... and it took a second to realize that Blake was staring into eyes of Weiss Schnee.


	16. Chapter 16

The night was calm as Jaune ducked into an alleyway near one of the suspected targets. He could see the storefront, a small pharmacy with colorful postcards and greeting cards lining the windows. A small sign advertised 'Fast Pick Up!'. Two police officers were stationed outside - one was tall and dark skinned with bright yellow hair. His uniform was less well-kept than his partner, whose blue hair poked out from under his hat.

"Doubt they'd be dumb enough to try this again!" the blond one said, probably a little-too-loudly for being on watch in the dead of night. He was pulling out his cellphone to check it, and Jaune couldn't help but catch a small monkey cellphone charm.

"You never know. Crime and smarts don't exactly go hand-in-hand." The blue haired cop leaned back casually against the wall, looking up and down the street. "I just hope we're not stuck sitting here all night..."

As he said that, Jaune glanced down at his clock. The second hand moved ever closer to the 12, and Jaune's eyes shot to the sky just in time to see the world turn green. The moon sat high and bright yellow, and the walls next to Jaune in the alley started to bleed. When he glanced back at the storefront, there were now two coffins where the officers had been.

Jaune took off at a run, looking around the area swiftly. He pulled open the door to the pharmacy, tearing through the few small isles quickly. He checked the bathrooms, ran into the employee only areas, and still came up blank. Standing in the center of the pharmacy, he gave the area one last go-over before pulling out his Evoker.

"Hodr, grant me sight!" As he pulled the trigger, a blue fog fell from his body and manifested as his Persona. It lowered the knight's helm onto Jaune's head carefully, and suddenly Jaune could sense Ruby and Pyrrha at their suspected targets a few blocks away. "Hey guys," he spoke, knowing that they would be able to hear it in their minds, "I didn't find anything here."

"Me either." Ruby pouted. "I thought for sure he'd hit one of these..."

"I'm afraid my results are the same. Perhaps the culprit is taking the night off?"

Jaune's head suddenly started to ache. "W-wait a second guys... I'm getting... something?" he turned his head left and right, but that did nothing - whatever he was feeling wasn't in the room. "It feels like... like a shadow? Like a strong, strong shadow." He closed his eyes and focused inward, and then when he opened them he could see a small map of Vale. "I... I think it's coming from near the docks. Let's meet at the corner of 5th and Prism Street?"

"Be right there!" Ruby shouted.

"I'm right behind you." Pyrrha added calmly.

Jaune dismissed Hodr and took off at a run, going around the coffin guards outside and turning a corner. As he ran through the night, he could see smaller shadows creeping out of the walls of the city. He ran even faster, because the one thing he hadn't told Pyrrha and Ruby was that... if he wasn't crazy... he felt like he could sense Blake and Weiss were there too.

"This is going too far!" Blake had her arms crossed and gestured down at the chair. She and Adam were both standing infront of Weiss's seated form. "What in the world made you possibly think this was a good idea?!"

"I-... I had to do something, Blake! The pamphlets weren't working. No one was listening." He put his hand into his fist. "This way, something gets done." He pointed a finger down at Weiss's seated form. She stared daggers into him.

"What do you think gets done, Adam!?" She threw her hands up. "What did you think would happen when the police found out where you were? Or when someone needed to use this warehouse?"

"Well..." Adam started, but Blake cut through his words before he could finish the thought.

"Did you plan to ransom her? What did you think would happen when you gave her back? Did you have plans to feed her?"

"I DID SOMETHING!" Adam said, shouting into Blake's face. "OKAY?! It might not have been the best plan, but I did something. I finally did SOMETHING!" he held his hands out, gesturing to Weiss. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Adam was desperately close as he said, nearly whispering into her face, "What. Did. You. Do? While I was OUT HERE, TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, WHAT - WHAT... what?"

Adam stopped shouting at Blake and started to stare around the vast empty space of the warehouse building. The walls had suddenly turned green. Through a small skylight he could see the yellow moon staring down at him. One of the walls had started to bleed and was forming a small pool of blood on the floor.

There was a clapping sound from the distance, and a shadowed figure appeared putting its hands together. Blake squinted to see it approaching into the strange light, clapping all the while. When it landed under the skylight, Blake gasped in shock and moved away from Weiss and Adam. She held her hand up to her mouth.

"Wh-what's going on, Adam?" Blake said, looking back and forth between the two Adams that now sat before her. One was the Adam she knew, the one she had grown up with. His mask was still on and he wore his large trenchcoat, but his mouth was hanging open at the sight infront of them.

"Well, well, well..." the 'other' Adam chimed, calmly sliding across the floor. He wore the trenchcoat as well, but whereas Adam's was zipped up to his neck, this one had his wide open, showing his bare chest for all the world to see. He wore no mask. His face held a gentle, humorous smirk and his yellow eyes were full of confidence. "Looks like I finally grew the pair I needed to change things. Good, because I was getting tired of being just so pathetic. Right, me?"

Weiss's eyes went wide from her chair as she saw the two Adams speaking infront of her. She tried to wiggle herself free, but the ropes were knotted too tightly. She glanced back and forth between the two, and started to wiggle violently to get herself free. She felt like she was making progress, that just maybe she was loosening the rope on her right wrist...

"Wh-wha? Who the hell are you?" Adam pointed at his other self, waving his hand in a wide arc. "Is this a prank? How dare you!" He stepped backward, still pointing. He looked to Blake, who was still staring at the two in shock.

"He-he looks just like you, Adam..." Blake gaped. "H-how is that possible?" She started to back away as well. Her eyes caught sight of Weiss trying to wiggle herself free for just a moment, and she glanced at Adam. He still hadn't seen anything, so focused on this other self.

"He... he doesn't look anything like me. That's so idiotic." He was backed against the wall now. The second Adam started to chuckle low, and a blue fog was emanating from his body. He took a step toward Adam and Blake and smiled.

"I'm just so focused on making sure I don't look like a wuss that I'll do anything, no matter how reckless. Right, me?" He strode forward, taking his steps calmly and surely. "It'd be too hard to compromise... I have to back up all of my talk with action, or else no one will think I'm a real man..." the 'Adam' smiled... "especially Blake, right? More than anyone, she can't think I'm chicken..."

The real Adam started looking around the room, and saw the door still slightly ajar. He broke into a run for it, but two beowulf shadows suddenly manifested, blocking his escape. Adam tried to double back and fell backwards, landing on his rump with with a pained groan.

"W-what the hell is going on? This isn't real, this can't be real..." He looked to Blake, who was starting to walk toward the other Adam. "N-no, stay away from him!"

"What do you want?!" Blake was staring hard at him. "What are you trying to do?"

As she got closer, the other Adam's mouth opened into a hearty laugh. "Why... to show you the real me, of course." he opened his hands wide, pulling open his trenchcoat further. "All on view for you to see... all the anger and fear and resentment I've built up... I have to follow through on it, or no one will take me seriously... and I'm so terrified of being seen as a wuss... so I can't let anyone take advantage of me... ever again..."

"That's not true! Get away from him Blake!" the Adam on the ground started to stand, legs shaking. He pointed at the blue-aura-cloaked version of himself and shouted. "That thing is something else! That's not me!"

The beowulf shadows were suddenly cut down by Ruby's scythe. She, Pyrrha, and Jaune all rushed into the warehouse, weapons drawn. Infront of them they could see the blue fog surrounding the other Adam start to grow larger and larger. Blake immediately rushed over to the newcomers, straight to Jaune.

"Are you ok?" Jaune grabbed her by her hands. "You're not hurt are you?"

"N-no... b-but Adam..." she turned and the group looked on as the other Adam's form started to shift and shake.

"So... you don't accept me, do you?" his hands started to stretch into long, bright red hooves that left scorch marks on the ground. His head began to elongate into a giant version of the mask the real Adam was wearing, only this one had gargantuan horns stretching forward - like a bull's, save the points were made of sharp, curved blades. It featured a nose piercing that had a rainbow colored gem inside of it.

There was a blinding flash as the blue fog dissipated and before the group stood a giant red bull with flaming hooves and sharp metallic horns. At the end of its tail was a long, curved blade that spun lazily back and forth. The creature stared down at the party through the mask and scratched its hoof on the floor. It echoed out a bellowing roar.

"I am a Shadow, the true self... Guess I'll show you... I'll show you all!"


	17. Chapter 17

The sound of gunshots erupted in the warehouse as Jaune, Ruby, and Pyrrha wasted no time leaping into action. Blake stared up at Hodr, hanging upside down on the cross, as he appeared behind Jaune. Jaune gave her a smile and a wink before his face disappeared beneath the knight's helm held by his persona.

"Don't worry. We'll protect you."

She heard Jaune's voice from inside her own head, and stood there shocked for a moment. Her eyes were jumping across the room trying to follow everything that was happening as she backed away from the giant bull monster infront of them. Pyrrha and Ruby were already rushing forward with Tyr and Baldr at their side, stabbing the creature with their massive weapons. As Tyr's scythe and Bladr's spear struck the creature it let out a menacing roar that shook the very ground.

"What... what are you guys?" Blake finally said from beside Jaune. The bull reared its head back and tried to stab at Ruby with one of its horn-blades, but she deftly jumped to the side before swinging her scythe into the side of its face. Pyrrha moved defensively, using her spear to keep distance from one of the creature's massive hooves.

"We're a team. We fight monsters during this crazy time... the Grimm Hour. Creatures called Shadows, like this thing here... Pyrrha, look out!"

Pyrrha's shield came up just in time to deflect a small burst of energy emanating from the bull. The force of the strike sent her sliding back, but she recovered quickly, Evoker at the ready. Meanwhile, Ruby was using her scythe to strike at the creature's left foreleg.

Blake looked back and forth, seeing the fight going on with a gaping mouth. She turned to glance around the room and saw that Weiss was making eye contact with her hard, trying to wiggle herself free. Blake hesitated for a moment... then realized she only had to do the right thing. She rushed across the battlefield, running to the side of the warehouse where Weiss sat.

Adam came out from the corner and intercepted her, placing himself between her and Weiss. "What do you think you're doing?! Now's our chance! With that... thing causing such a mess, we can get the hell out of here with our hostage!" As he said 'thing' he shot a glance at the giant bull, and immediately turned his head to look away with a pained expression on his face.

"You're still going to try that?!" Blake's eyes shot daggers into Adam's. "It's over, Adam! Get out of my way, I'm going to untie her." Behind her, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaune's battle with the beast was raging. "I'll go through you if I have to."

Adam stood there, arms outstretched as he looked from Blake to Weiss to the Bull and back to Blake. "I... no! I won't! This is the only thing I have left! The only thing that _we_ have left, Blake! Don't... don't!" He lunged at her, teeth gritted as he let out an angry grunt of effort. Blake jumped to her left, letting Adam lose his footing as he went past her, missing her. Adam slumped to the floor as Blake went about untying Weiss.

"Ruby, use your new Persona!" Blake could still hear Jaune inside her head and she glanced up to see Ruby pull her Evoker to her head and call forth a unicorn, glistening white with a beautiful glowing horn. As the bull's blade-horns came down, the unicorn parried with its own, filling the room with a blinding flash for a split second. As the creature was forced back, the unicorn jumped forward, spun on itself, and kicked with its hind legs, landing a solid two-hoof strike into the chest of the monster.

In that time, Adam was back on his feet. He slowly pulled off his mask and stared down at Blake, who was still working the knot. She glanced up at him, seeing the full rage in his eyes as he took a step toward her, fists clenched. "I can't let you do this Blake. Don't make me hurt you." He stook a deliberate step forward, and Blake could almost palpably feel the rage running in his blood. He took another step, and with his foot kicked one of the legs out from the chair that was holding Weiss, causing her to topple over. Blake gasped and released her hands as Weiss tumbled to the side. The knot was still tied, but somewhat looser now.

"I don't want to hurt you. I really don't, Blake, but you're going to make me do it." He repeated as he took another step toward her. Blake's eyes shot around the room, taking in everything in that instant - the bull monster was still fighting Ruby and Pyrrha. Jaune was still there calling shots and surveying the warehouse. Weiss was on her side, still desperately trying to wiggle free and trying to shout through the gag in her mouth... but Adam kicking her chair over had revealed something. A small gun - just like the one that Ruby had used to summon the unicorn - sat right within arm's reach.

In a moment that seemed to last for eternity, Blake's hand slipped around the Evoker. That image seemed to ingrain itself in her mind - Jaune with the Evoker at his head... Ruby summoning the unicorn... using the power inside themselves to fight these things that were surrounding them. Adam's footstep grew closer, but it was a distant, unimportant thing to her. His threat of violence was there, but it caused no fear in her. His petty, childish temper stood no chance in the face of real strength.

The gun came to Blake's head almost on its own. She held it beneath her chin, staring Adam straight in the eyes as she did so. His eyes went wide, but Blake just felt a serene calm. Her lips widened into a small smile as a word escaped her lips.

"Persona..."

Adam watched as Blake's head snapped back from a gunshot recoil. Blue fog fell around her in waves, and an ethereal voice filled his mind, though he couldn't tell where it was coming from. "Well, well... what have we here?" The voice was sultry, nearly purring every word as it filled Blake's senses. "You've tapped into your inner strength... I like that. It's time to see what it's like to be a graceful beauty in a world of angry, ugly little beasts. This is what the other you that dwells within wishes to be. I am thou, and thou art I... a contract between us will suffice."

The fog behind Blake began to thicken and congeal, manifesting as a woman with honey blond hair cascading down her right shoulder. Two small, golden cat ears poked out from her head, and her bright yellow eyes, which had two black vertical pupils, poked out from behind a slightly feathered white masquerade mask. Her pale arms ended in golden feline claws, one of which was holding open a thick white tome that was bookmarked by a bright red rose. She wore a luminescent yellow ballgown that matched the color of the cat fur on her ears and claws, though her legs were nowhere to be seen beneath the gown which floated ethereally in the air. The edges of the gown had small white teacups that seemed to dance along the edges of their own accord. At her collarbone sat a rainbow colored jewel, glowing brilliantly, seemingly embedded in her chest.

"Freya!" Blake said finally, and the Persona looked down at the approaching Adam with absolute contempt. The Persona waved one claw and with the other, snapped the tome shut with a staccato bang. A small ball of fire erupted from her outstretched claw, heading right for Adam who fell backward scrambling to get away from Blake and her terryfing new persona. The ball of fire struck the ground next to him, and he could feel the heat flow through the air as it struck the floor harmlessly.

"Th-that could've killed me!" He sat, legs outstretched, his whole body shaking. He paused to turn back to see the bull still fighting Pyrrha and Ruby behind him, and Freya floating behind Blake infront of him.

Blake simply looked down at him and lazily gestured to the door with the hand that held the Evoker. The motion was like that of a noble dismissing a slave. "I missed on purpose. You know where the exit is. I suggest getting out of here before I change my mind." She turned her nose up to him.

Adam started to reverse crab-walk away at first, then turned around and bolted for the door. He paused only long enough to grab his mask and shove it quickly onto his face before darting away. The warehouse door slammed shut as he disappeared from sight.

"Blake?! Holy crap, that was awesome!"

She could hear Jaune's voice in her head. Blake gave herself a calm smile and found that it was within her power to answer him in kind. "Thanks, Jaune. I'm going to help Weiss, then we'll see what we can do about dealing with this thing." She leaned over and deftly untied the knot still tying Weiss to the chair. Weiss slumped free with a wince, trying to roll her way back to her feet. Blake came over to her, and could see the bruise on her face from where she had fell when Adam kicked her over.

"Don't worry, I've got you." She helped Weiss to her feet and helped get the gag out of her mouth. Weiss's big blue eyes stared into Blake's yellow, and Weiss fell into Blake. Blake held her up for a moment before walking over to the wall, gently setting Weiss down. "It's been a long day, maybe you should sit this one out."

Weiss looked up and nodded, breathing a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you... for standing up to him. For saving me. I owe you one." Blake nodded, turning back to see Pyrrha and Ruby still dodging around the blades of the giant bull. "Don't worry about me. Go get them." Weiss smiled up at Blake, and Blake nodded before running to join the fray.

"Welcome to the fight, Blake!" Ruby chimed happily as Tyr's giant blade swiped aside one of the bull's cloven hooves. The bull reared back, snorting loudly as it rushed across the warehouse toward Pyrrha. It ran full force into Baldr's shield before being struck by the Persona's spear multiple times in the face. Freya appeared next to it, launching a ball of fire at the bull. The fire struck it hard, causing it to nearly lose its footing.

"That's it, it's weak to fire! Pyrrha, hit it with Orobos!" Jaune's voice echoed inside the group, and Pyrra followed suit. The man with horse hooves and a wild mane appeared behind her, launching a ball of fire at the bull. This one hit one of the large legs carrying the beast, and it lost its balance, shaking the earth as it landed hard on the ground.

Ruby rushed in with her scythe while Pyrrha ran at it with its spear. For lack of a weapon, Blake simply summoned Freya again, sending another ball of fire at the creature. The bull started to howl in pain, scrambling to get itself back to its feet - but it despite its efforts, the barrage of attacks were too much. The creature tried its best to get on all fours but after a series of strikes, the creature began to dissipate into a black smoke that released from its body into the air.

"That's it! We did it!" Jaune's cry echoed through the party as Hodr vanished from behind him. He ran up next to Pyrrha, Blake, and Ruby and watched as the boar's form began to shrink as the black smoke left its body. After a few moments, the 'other' Adam was all that was left, standing there - hunched forward and breathing deeply, holding its side as though wounded.

"A-adam?" Blake said, looking at the creature. "Are you... are you part of him?" Her voice was tentative, but she somehow knew that she was right. This Shadow Adam simply nodded mutely, gently bobbing its head. "But he didn't accept you..."

"He feels like... our Personas." Pyrrha said, stepping forward. "As though he could have been such a thing for Adam, had he only come to terms with himself."

"I wonder what happens next?" Ruby said, eyes going over the defeated Adam. "If Adam doesn't accept him... then does this part of him just... go away?"

"I suppose so." Pyrrha said. As if on que, the Shadow Adam started to simply vanish, disappearing right before their very eyes. His stare was distant and sorrowful.

"Weiss!" Ruby said, turning to see Weiss coming closer. She ran forward, nearly knocking Weiss over as she hugged her deeply. Pyrrha and Jaune came forward as well, Pyrrha placing her hand over Weiss's and smiling at her. Jaune put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reaffirming nod.

"H-hey guys..." Weiss finally said, smiling despite herself. "Thanks for rescuing me... after I was such a jerk, too... I'm sorry..." Small tears started to form in her eyes. She put her head on Ruby's shoulder to hide her face.

"It's ok Weiss. We might not always get along, but we're her for eachother. That's what a team's for." Ruby spoke calmly into Weiss's ear, and Weiss started to shake slightly as she sobbed into Ruby's shoulder.

Blake, standing off to the side, stared at the door Adam had left through. She paused there for a moment, contemplating the life she was leaving behind. She heard Jaune's voice mutter something, followed by the laughter of Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss. She gave herself a small smirk and turned away from the door, and started walking towards the team.

* * *

Kinnakoa here! Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that next week we'll be interrupting our regularly scheduled programming for a Grimm Hour holiday special. See you next time!


	18. A Christmas Peril

Kinnakoa here! The following story shouldn't be considered canon for the rest of Grimm Hour.

* * *

Monday, January 24th  
The marshmallow in Pyrrha's hot chocolate sat idly bobbing as she looked out the dorm window. Snow was gently drifting over Beacon Academy; it was going to be a white Christmas. She smiled to herself, glancing over at the pile of gifts she had gotten her friends and teammates. They were all meticulously wrapped, their ribbons tied in picture-perfect bows. As the snow gently fell toward the earth, Pyrrha could not help but feel that the world was truly at peace.

She glanced down at her writing desk to see the card she had purchased for Jaune. It was small, simple, sweet… perhaps too forward? She wasn't sure where Jaune thought their relationship was going, but she had hopes… high hopes. There's no time like Christmas to admit one's true feelings, right?

She came downstairs and smiled as Weiss and Ruby finished topping the tree. Meanwhile, next to them… there he was, all dressed in his blue onesie with a white rabbit on the front and small rabbit ears on the outfit's feet. He smiled and waved at her as she came down, and she had to suppress the red rushing to her cheeks. She waved back, looking down at herself dressed in a slightly-too-large yellow t-shirt and black leggings.

"I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by." She said quietly as she sat next to Jaune on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her and sipping at the hot chocolate she had carried downstairs.

"Same here. It's all been a blur with tests and shadows and team Power… but it's nice to relax a bit with you guys." He looked to Ruby and Weiss and Pyrrha all in line. Pyrrha may have imagined it, but she felt like his eyes lingered on her a bit longer than the others.

"I just wish Qrow and Yang were here… I miss having the whole family here for Christmas." Ruby sighed as she looked around. "But I guess you guys are like family anyway, so it'll be just fine!" She poked Weiss, who nearly fell off the small stepstool she was using to adjust an ornament in the shape of a snowflake on the tree.

"W-watch it!" Weiss growled at Ruby, who snickered, which caused Jaune and Pyrrha to snicker as well. "Come on guys. This tree needs to be perfect!"

"I think it looks lovely already." Pyrrha smiled over her mug, shooting a glance at Jaune as she did so. "We just need to get the presents under the tree. I'll go get the ones from my room."

"Oh! I'll help. I know you have a lot." Jaune said, standing up and stretching, causing the rabbit on the front of his onesie to stretch its face a bit as he did so. Pyrrha and Jaune made their way upstairs to Pyrrha's room, leaving Weiss and Ruby to bicker about the tree undisturbed.

"P-please don't mind the mess." She stammered as she opened the door.

"I'm sure it's not half as messy as mine!" Jaune chuckled as he walked past the door.

Pyrrha's room was well-kept and utilitarian. The bed was well-made. Books were standing upright on the shelf. The presents were neatly stacked in boxes right by her writing desk that Pyrrha had been using earlier –

The writing desk that had Jaune's card sitting on it.

Exposed.

The card that confessed Pyrrha's true feelings for Jaune, right there for him to see if he only looked… slightly… to the right…!

"J-Jaune, LOOK OUT!" Pyrrha screamed suddenly as she dove at Jaune, knocking him to the floor with a hard tackle. Jaune fell onto his back, Pyrrha landing on top of him, the air knocked firmly out of his lungs.

"Wh-Pyrrha –What's going on!?" Jaune gasped as he tried to sit himself up, but Pyrrha's wait was firmly keeping him on the ground.

"I uh, thought I uh… Shadows! Definitely shadows! They've infiltrated the dorm!" Pyrrha lied firmly through her teeth, wishing against all odds that it were true as she scrambled up and swiftly snatched the card from her desk. She darted to the door, closing it behind her as she clutched the card, using her body to hide her hands.

"Wh-shadows? WHERE?!" Jaune launched himself up, breathing heavily as he scanned the room. All he saw was the orderly calm that Pyrrha lived her life in.

"They… they left! Yes, precisely. They left." Pyrrha said matter-of-factly, glad to have come up with the most perfect lie anyone has ever told on the whole of Remnant.

Jaune looked at Pyrrha and tilted his head slowly to the side. "They… left…" Jaune glanced back at the presents and back at Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, are you feeling ok? It's not even the Grimm Hour. Did you hit your head on something?"

"Oh, um… I must have simply been mistaken. Yes." Pyrrha said as she grabbed a giftwrapped shovel and dug herself deeper into this snow-rabbit hole. "A-anyway, we should be carrying the presents, yes!"

"Um… right. Ok." Jaune gave her a sideways glance as he piled three boxes in his arms and walked toward her, with her back still to the door. "So uh… could you… the door?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Y-yes, of course." She realized, however, that if she backed away from the door then the card would still be in her hand. She would be exposed. The perfect lie she had concocted would all be for naught. She opened her eyes wide, holding the card behind her back with one hand and pointing with the other.

"LOOK. OH DEAR. MORE SHADOWS." She cried in what she hoped was a believable manner. Jaune sighed and turned around, at which point Pyrrha popped open the door inward and readjusted herself to lean against it. She moved with such speed and ferocity that a bead of sweat formed at her forehead.

"Does… your family have a tradition of Christmas pranks or something?" Jaune sighed as he walked past. "I don't think I get it… but um, whatever makes you happy!" He walked downstairs with the boxes in his hands and disappeared from Pyrrha's view.

Pyrrha gave a sigh of relief and wiped her head with her forearm. She had narrowly avoided absolute disaster! She gently walked back to the writing desk. She didn't even see the sky turning green outside, the Grimm Hour approaching for its appearance between Christmas Eve and Christmas. As she was about to sit down she heard a cry from downstairs.

"P-PYRRHA WAS RIGHT! SHADOWS!" Jaune's panicked cry echoed throughout the dorm, and Pyrrha rushed downstairs, grabbing her Evoker on the way.

As she entered the lobby she could see the rest of her team doing their best to avoid being tackled by a group of enemies. These shadows were shaped like three spheres stacked on top of each other, each wearing a white mask with a roman number XX on their foreheads. The topmost sphere of each shadow bore a black silk top hat.

"Baldr!" Pyrrha cried, pulling her Evoker under her chin and firing. Her Persona manifested above her, driving its spear directly into a group of the shadows. In response, the shadow's three distinct sphere-heads separated and dodged around the Persona before reforming, giving a menacing chuckle that reverberated through the hall with a 'dum diddley dum dum'. Pyrrha looked to the rest of her group, who were all running past her up the stairs – presumably to grab Evokers and weapons of their own.

"I'll hold them off!" Pyrrha called, but Jaune stopped right next to her.

"Not alone, you won't!" He was holding a large, plastic candy cane that was previously hanging on a wall as decoration, brandishing it like a sword.

As the shadows approached the stairs, Pyrrha summoned Baldr once more. This time, it manifested a circle of light under the spherical shapes, glowing brighter and brighter until it enveloped the shadow completely. Jaune, meanwhile, rushed another Shadow with his cane of pain, hitting the center sphere with a home run swing. The middle sphere went flying across the room, and the entire shadow collapsed on itself, its silk hat spinning lonesomely on the floor for a few moments before vanishing in a puff of black smoke.

One of the snowmen shadows jumped around Jaune and went straight for Pyrrha. She made to defend herself and realized, too late, that the only thing in her hand was the Christmas card she had written for Jaune. The shadow struck her solidly in the face, tackling her with each head in turn. She fell backward onto the stairs, but Jaune was there in a flash. His cane struck like hard candy, slamming the creature so hard it could see sugarplums dancing above its head before vanishing into nothingness.

As Jaune leaned over to pick Pyrrha up, she could see the rabbit on his onesie staring at her. She smiled, taking his hand – only, again, realizing too late that the card was still in her hand. Before she could do anything, he had grabbed it and glanced at it curiously. "Huh? What's this, Pyrrha?" He asked innocently, as he held the card up to read it.

Pyrrha screamed internally, her face flushing so red that it could've guided Santa's sleigh. As Jaune read it over, she simply sat there, stunned, wishing more shadows would rush up the stairs to attack. However, as Pyrrha leaned around Jaune, she could see that Ruby had in fact obtained her scythe and rushed downstairs past them and was currently, valiantly keeping the Shadows at bay with her Pixie persona – who, if Pyrrha wasn't imagining it, was dressed in a small green tunic like a Christmas elf at a mall.

Jaune's face settled into a soft smile as he finished reading the card. He looked down at Pyrrha and held out his hand, and she took it, still blushing furiously. She did her best to avoid eye contact with him, trying to look everywhere else, but not particularly feeling the urgency of the attacking shadows – mostly because she felt that this situation was much more fatal… that is, until Jaune spoke.

"I feel the same way." He said, as Weiss slid down the bannister past them, like she was riding a pony side-saddle, her Evoker already to her head to summon Idunne and join Ruby in the fight at the bottom of the stairs. "I've felt this way about you for a while." He said, his face starting to blush.

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile back at him, and realized they were still holding hands from when he helped her up. She looked down and for a moment thought of breaking her grip but… realized she liked holding his hand. She liked a lot about him. Her heart was pounding a million miles a minute, and everything in the background seemed to fade as she stared into his eyes. "I'm… I'm so glad. I was so worried."

"I'm glad too, Pyrrha… thanks for telling me. I… I'd like to kiss you now." He gave her a gentle smile, and pulled Pyrrha in close. She nodded, still blushing, smiling brightly as his face grew closer to hers. Their lips touched, and Pyrrha could swear she felt fireworks going off inside her chest. She was wrapped up in a moment of pure bliss, her mind empty of all thought except the purest feeling of joy.

She wished that kiss could've gone on forever. As soon as her lips separated from Jaune's, though, they heard a cry coming from the bottom of the stairs. "Guys! Hurry! A big one's coming!" Ruby shouted, breaking their bliss. Pyrrha looked Jaune in the eyes, and he stared back into hers, and in unison they nodded – more kisses would come later. For now, there were shadows to fight.

Hand in hand, Pyrrha and Jaune descended the stairs and rushed outside to where Ruby and Weiss had run. Out on the front yard of the dorm, with the giant shape of Muspell in the background, stood a giant equine monster. It bore a giant sphere at the tip of its face that had a bright red glow, and two giant antlers that curved down menacingly. It tapped its hoof a few times, then dashed right at the group standing ready.

Pyrrha and Jaune smiled as they looked at the oncoming Shadow. They held their Evokers to their heads with one hand, and held each other with the other. Pyrrha idly wondered in that split second what she had been so worried about. As the giant Shadow's nose began to glow ever more menacingly brighter, she couldn't help but think that this was going to be a great Christmas after all.

* * *

Kinnakoa here. I hope you enjoyed this silly holiday story. It was a lot of fun for me to write, and I hope it wasn't too painful to read. Sorry for the late post, internet troubles last night kept me from getting this up in time. Grimm Hour will continue as normal next week! I'd like to thank everyone for reading this far, and I hope you've all been experiencing a wonderfully bright December. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!


	19. Chapter 18

Monday, May 1st

"I can hardly believe it's already been a week." Jaune yawned and stretched as he headed back to the dorms with Blake and Ruby walking beside him. Blake and Ruby were nodding to eachother, with Ruby inbetween Jaune and Blake. "You're moving in tonight, right Blake?" Jaune looked to the other side of Ruby to see Blake smiling back at him.

"That's right. I should be all settled in by this time tomorrow... thanks again, for inviting me to move in with you." She looked between Ruby and Jaune. "It's been a bit rough after... well..." her eyes shot to the walkway, then up to the sky. She paused as they walked, but her eyes opened with surprise when she felt Ruby's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Blake. We understand." She set herself and stared Blake in the eyes. Jaune stopped moving as well and turned to face them himself.

"That's right, Blake. We're just glad to have you on the team." He put his hand on her other shoulder, and Blake looked between the two of them, the uncertainty washing off of her face. She nodded quietly, and the trio kept walking.

"Though, I guess we'll need a new acronym." Ruby chimed as they made their way home. "J-Power doesn't have a B in it."

"J-Power?... acronym?" Blake raised an eyebrow to Ruby, whose face was set in firm concentration on the problem at hand.

"You see," Jaune said, "The team has me - J for Jaune, obviously - then Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby. So J, P, W, R. Or... J-Power, as we've been calling ourselves." His voice was calm as he elegantly explained the situation.

Ruby paused in her thinking just to quickly add, "The J stands for Justice," matter-of-factly before returning to tapping her chin in deep, deep thought.

"I... I don't think that's what an acronym is." Blake said, chuckling softly before continuing. "But if we need a team name other than Justice Power, maybe we can come up with something else?"

"... brr... bower?... j-bowser?... wait no 's'... bop?...boop?... jar...war... pow..." Ruby's forehead was crinkled as she started making noises with her mouth, trying to find a way to fit all of the consonant sounds into some sort of workable team name.

"We can always bench it for now." Jaune said as he held open the door to the dorms. "We get to show Blake her new place!" As they walked inside, Jaune gestured to the inside of the dorms where a small banner saying 'Welcome, Blake!' had been set up.

Blake flushed slightly and smiled as she looked around. Weiss and Pyrrha were standing there, waving politely. Pyrrha approached Blake with a firm handshake and a smile. "Welcome to the team. We're happy to have you."

"Likewise." Weiss added, nodding her head slightly toward the newest member. "It's good to see our group getting larger. Now, Muspell doesn't stand a chance."

Blake gave the group a blank expression. "Muspell?"

"Oh, haha, right. I guess I was supposed to explain that part before now..." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "So, you know how Beacon's like... a normal school right? Well..."

Jaune went into the explanation about how the school transforms into a shadow-infested megadungeon with a forest on the first floor. This was followed by how the group all fights together, exploring the dungeon piece-by-piece and hoping to progress into further floors. As he explained, Blake simply nodded along slowly, taking it all in with an astounding amount of grace given what he was saying.

"So... we'll all be exploring together now?" Blake said calmly as Jaune finished.

"Correct. Jaune is our navigator, and Weiss is the team leader, and Pyrrha and I are... the... um... shadow-slayers?" Ruby added, hopefully helpfully. Pyrrha simply nodded silently in agremeent. "So with you on our team, we're just gonna be even stronger!" She turned to Blake, bouncing with excitement. Blake simply nodded once more. "Do you know what your Persona is capable of, yet?"

"I gave her a good look over during the fight with that angry bull. I think Freya has powerful fire magic and healing abilities, but lacks physical attacks." Jaune nodded towards Blake. "Which means you'll probably carry the role of backline support with me and Weiss while Ruby and Pyrrha handle the frontline fighting stuff. Does that sound ok to you?"

Blake stared blankly at him for a moment before returning his nod - if only slightly. "So I'm going to spend time setting monsters on fire and healing everyone that gets injured...?" She paused for a moment, seeming to think it over, then smiled softly. "Sounds like a plan. Count me in... and Freya as well." She smiled, and the group cheered in unison. The team went on to help Blake move her things into her new room in the dorm and help get her set up. The hours passed with smiles and jokes and excitement as Blake's induction into the team became more and more real. Weiss had a cake brought in and everyone  
gathered around to celebrate. Shortly after, with the cake eaten and the work done, everyone went their separate ways, wishing Blake a good night and taking turns  
welcoming her to the team one last time.

* * *

A few hours later, as she sat on her bed, looking around at her belongings, she couldn't help but feel at peace. Night had fallen over Beacon, and Blake was feeling a sense of peace and belonging she hadn't felt in quite a while. With Menagerie and Adam far behind her, Blake  
finally felt as though she could breathe, simply taking in the moment without any anxiety filling her moments.

"Hey, Blake. Mind if we chat a bit?" Blake stood up and cracked the door to see Weiss Schnee standing there, smiling at her.

"Oh, um... of course." She opened the door and Weiss strode in, taking in Blake's new room. A large shelf held books of every kind; some fiction, some practical, romance and fantasy and romantic fantasy. At the top sat a small framed picture that seemed to be of Blake when she was younger. There was another girl in the picture, a freckle-faced kid with a red-headed ponytail and a bright eager smile who just seemed happy to be next to Blake. The bed was well made with a black and white checkerboard comforter.

"I just... wanted to know if we could chat a bit. About... my family." Weiss stood there awkwardly as she spoke, glancing around the room nervously. "I just... I know you don't approve of the Schnee company, and... I don't want there to be any tension between us. I know that's what you and Adam were fighting for, and... I just want you to... you see..."

She twiddled her hands nervously as she spoke, her speech pattern growing more rapid with every passing second. Blake simply stood up, walked toward her, and grabbed her in a hug. At the physical contact, Weiss stopped speaking, eyes wide as she felt Blake's arms around her. Weiss slowly, tentatively, hugged Blake back. In the silence, Weiss could hear her own breathing.

"Weiss... you're not your family." Blake said, still holding onto her. She broke away, staring into Weiss's eyes. "Just like... I'm not like Adam. Just because we grew up around certain people doesn't mean we have to be defined by them. We get to choose who we let define us... and I see the people you're with every day. Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ruby... they all seem like wonderful people. So I can only assume that you want to be like them, too."

"I..." Weiss looked to the side quickly, then slowly met Blake's eyes again. "You're right, Blake. I... I really needed to hear that." She gave a soft smile as water formed at the corner of her eyes. "Thank you... for being so understanding." She stepped forward and held Blake in another brief, but emotional hug before backing away again.

"Of course, Weiss. Just know that I still don't condone what your family does, but... I like to think we can change things for the better, and that won't come by acting like... like Adam." It was Blake's turn to avert her gaze. She stared at the corner of her room for a moment, then nodded slowly to herself. "Let's work together. To make the world a better place... in the here and now."

She held out her hand, and Weiss took it. She held it for a moment before letting go, never taking her eyes off of Blake. "Agreed."

* * *

"That's the one."

Three people were walking together down the streets of Vale at night. As they turned the alleyway, one girl with a self-assured gait and mint green colored hair with brown leggings under white shorts was pointing towards the corner alley behind a grocery store. The center member, wearing a large tan cloak that covered most of their features, nodded. A boy with silver hair, black pants, thick black boots and a silver shirt on the other side of the tan-covered figure crossed his arms and walked behind the others, keeping a sharp eye around himself.

Following the pointing finger, the cloaked figure stepped into the alley and stared down at a black-covered figure curled up on himself. He was wearing a long black trench coat that was frayed at the edges, and wore a small white mask that barely covered his eyes. He glanced up at the approaching trio.

"Last week... it was you. The one who called the shadow." The tan-cloaked figure said it as a statement, not a question. Her voice lilted softly as she spoke to him, looking down from beneath her hood. "What is your name?"

"What's it to you?" He held his chin up to them, eyes narrowed at the two whose eyes he could actually see.

The silver haired boy put his foot firmly on the black cloaked man's chest, pushing him back into the wall with a hard 'thud'. The man's mask slipped slightly as he coughed from the impact. He stared up at the boy, eyes still defiant. The silver haired boy smiled down with a smirk. "Oooh, I like a fighter. How about I mess you up a bit, then you talk?"

He pulled his leg back to strike again, but stopped when the tan-colored sleeve touched his shoulder. He shrugged, stepping back while the tan figure stepped forward. The hood came off, revealing a woman with black bangs that curled playfully above her amber colored eyes. Her ruby painted lips parted in a small smile as she kneeled down to the injured man's level, extending her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Cinder, and you can call us... Salem." The man's hand extended, grabbing Cinder's as she helped lift him to her feet.

He grunted slightly as he stood. He looked between Cinder and her two companions, and gritted his teeth. The fire never left his eyes the entire time he stared into Cinder's gaze.

"Adam."

Cinder's smile curled ever so slightly wider. She moved to Adam's side and took his arm, like a dancer escorting her date. She started to walk, and Adam had to shuffle to keep up alongside her. The other two fell in line to either side of the pair, keeping a sharp eye out around them.

"Come Adam," Cinder chimed, "let's be friends."


	20. Chapter 19

Wednesday, May 3rd

"Is it just me, or does it seem like there's less Shadows than before?" Jaune's voice echoed across the first floor of Muspell as Blake, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby traveled alongside him. Everyone had their weapons drawn; Jaune had the sword he borrowed from Pyrrha, Pyrrha had her spear, Weiss had her rapier, Ruby had her precious scythe, and Blake was brandishing a pair of thick eskrima sticks that she had also borrowed from Pyrrha.

"Maybe it's just because there are so many of us?" Weiss said, spinning her rapier idly in her hand. "With our increased numbers we haven't had to use our Personas as often either. "

"This has been... amazing!" Blake looked wide-eyed around her. She had fought a few Shadows on the way here, but the sight of Muspell still felt strange and alien, though surprisingly awe-inspiring to her. Being the greenest member of the team, she still shied away from the front lines. That said, once she had gotten used to her Persona-infused strength, she was able to at least keep Shadows away from Jaune while the other three did the brunt of the exterminating.

"You're doing very well." Pyrrha said walking alongside her, with a soft smile. "You've caught on to this rather quickly. I was worried you'd be much more... timid when it came to fighting strange monsters in a forbidding forest dungeon."

"Um... thanks." Blake flushed slightly at the compliment, hunching her shoulders a bit. "I'm just... trying to follow your lead, really."

"Well, Weiss is the leader." Pyrrha said with a smile. "But I accept the compliment all the same. We're coming up on our destination now, be ready." Pyrrha called as she and Ruby lead the way. The forest trail narrowed, leading to a gargantuan tree with a large knothole at the front of it. If their hunch was right, this was the last part of the first floor of Muspell left unexplored. The hole stood open in front of the group, ready for them to dive in. The gathered party - previous known as team J-Power - paused there for a moment, all making eye contact with one another.

"Do we just... go in?" Blake looked around, nervously. "Do you guys know what's inside?"

Weiss shook her head. "This is the furthest we've gotten. Everything inside will be just as new to us as it is to you." She examined the hole for a brief moment, then looked to the others. "In we go, team. Pyrrha, if you wouldn't mind?"

Pyrrha nodded, taking a few steps back. She smiled to the others, tightened her grip on her spear and shield, and took off at a running start before leaping into the portal.

* * *

Pyrrha dove in head first, coming out the other side in a smooth roll with her shield and spear at the ready. She looked around to see that they were in a small… arena, of sorts. A circular piece of ground that was crowded with tall, thick grass and surrounded by giant dead trees. On one side of the arena, there seemed to be a thick white line in front of the trees. On the other, a thick black. The two met on the far side of the clearing, drawing a harsh line down the center. Looking this over, Pyrrha took a calm step to the side in preparation of her teammates coming in behind her.

At just that moment, Ruby appeared at a full sprint. As soon as she was next to Pyrrha, she brandished her scythe in a spinning motion. Seeing no enemies, she paused, letting her guard down a bit as she looked at the surrounding area.

"Woah, creepy." Ruby said, staring at the dead trees all around them. "Wonder why it's just a big open space?"

Weiss slid in next, appearing in mid-air and spinning slightly, landing with elegant dance-like steps with her rapier drawn. She spun her blade in her hand again, looking around to see no immediate threat. She sheathed her blade and turned to the other two.

"Well, I guess that was a bust. There doesn't seem to be anything here."

Blake and Jaune were next, both landing a little more roughly than the others. Blake stumbled slightly coming on the other side, but managed to right herself. Jaune landed on his feet, but with a hard 'thump' that caused him to bend at the knees. He shook himself off a bit, and the entire party found themselves surrounded by the tall, looming, dead trees spreading dark, thin, ominous shadows over the area. No sooner had Blake and Jaune entered than the knothole behind them twisted in on itself, closing itself off until it was just a fully thick tree trunk with no openings.

"Guess we don't get an exit strategy." Jaune gulped, looking around. He spotted the same thick line that divided the white streak from the black streak that circled the arena. He turned to the others, gestured to the far wall, and they all began to move toward the center of the forest clearing in one large clump.

The group went quiet as they progressed, coming closer and closer to the center. The grass around them reached up to their waists. The movement was slow, and Jaune kept his hand hovering over his evoker. He glanced to the left and right – and continued to see nothing. He kept turning to the others, making eye contact with each of them in turn. Everyone was on high alert, but… nothing was coming up.

As the group reached the center, Ruby let out a heavy sigh. "I wish something would just happen already! This suspense is killing me!" She swung her scythe in a large arc in front of her, cutting some of the grass that was there. The rest of the team tensed up in response to the sudden noise, pulling themselves tighter together.

"Wait, something's happening." Pyrrha said, pointing her spear toward the black and white lines that sat on the edge of the clearing. They had started moving, spinning in a steady pace around the arena's edge. "It appears that we've triggered something. Perhaps it's a mechanism or puzzle of some sort?" Pyrrha glanced around herself again, with a curious expression on her face.

"Let me see if I can find anything." Jaune pulled his evoker to his head and fired. Hodr appeared behind him, blonde hair floating toward the ground and helm outstretched. Jaune placed the helmet on his head and glanced at the surrounding area. Something started to blip on his screen; the white and black rotating wall was rotating faster, and lighting up inside his head a bright blue color. A small line pointed away from the rotating wall with a small bit of text; "Tricky Royal Taijitu".

"Am I imagining things, or is the wall getting closer?" Blake asked as she looked at the spinning wall. It was hard to tell, but it seemed to be moving ever more toward their position. She put one of her eskrima sticks away and pulled out her evoker, just in case. Ruby and Pyrrha looked at one another, then back at the wall, then met eyes again. They nodded just as Jaune called out.

"G-guys, it's not a puzzle! Not a puzzle! It's a shado—ooph!" Jaune's cries were drowned out as he was knocked over by a giant black snake head diving out from the circling wall. He fell over to one side, coming to a roll, his Persona vanishing as he did so. With a face-full of dirt, he looked up and could see that the entire group was now surrounded by a giant two-headed shadow. The white half of its body stretched up into an elegant looking cobra with a crown on its head, each point of the crown ending in vicious swords. The black half ended in a head resembling that of a rattlesnake with its own crown, this one ended with what appeared to be upside down hearts. Each wore a mask over their eyes; the white one bore the roman numerals IV, and the black bore the roman numerals III.

"Jaune, stay down!" Weiss called as she rushed to his side. The black snake head was leaning back and coming down fast, mouth wide with fangs ready to bite down on Jaune. Just before the snake could reach him, Weiss's persona Idunne manifested in front of it. The ice-queen appeared, her thin dress clinging tightly to her porcelain white skin. Idunne blew into her apple, sending shards of ice down the throat of the black snake, but it didn't seem to have any effect. The snake simply shrugged it off, then swatted Weiss to the side with a head-butt.

"I—I'll summon my persona!" Blake cried, putting her Evoker between her two trembling hands and firing it at her forehead. Freya's feline form appeared, spinning slightly with her large tome cracked open, the bright red rose leaning against it as a bookmark. Blake directed her toward the black-headed snake for a follow-up attack, but before she could do so, the white head drove Blake's back, causing her to fall forward, flat on her face.

Pyrrha dove into action, running right at the white head of the beast. Her shield went ahead of her, coming out like a Grecian discus and landing right into the snake's eye. This was followed by her leaping into the air, grabbing the shield on the rebound, and driving the point of her spear into the snake's mask. The creature pulled its head back and up, taking Pyrrha with it as she gripped onto her spear's handle. The snake's body snapped upward, sending Pyrrha into the air.

She floated for a split moment in freefall, but her Evoker came to her head and Baldr was there in an instant. Now, her momentum shifted downward as she travelled behind her Persona, whose shield and spear were floating around him, heading down toward the crown of the white snake. Baldr's spear drove forward, striking the same point that Pyrrha's spear had just struck. The snake's head snapped down as quickly as it had snapped upward, and it bounced on the ground with a hard 'thud', hitting with so much force that the head snapped right back up like a rubber band.

As its head ascended from the impact against the floor, Pyrrha gripped her spear – still resting between the snake's eyes – and spun along it. Her feet found purchase on the snake's head, and she slid down the creature's neck, swiftly finding her way all the way down its back and onto the ground next to her party members. She brandished her spear and shield, standing at the ready once again.

"That… was…. Awesome!" Ruby said, spinning her scythe to drive back the creature's black head which was coming in for another strike. Jaune had gotten back on his feet, as had Blake, and the group was now standing in a small tight circle with the creature's body spiraling ever closer toward them. The group saw the encroaching circling heads and drove them back with one attack after another, but the spiraling body just kept closing its gap, looming around them like a noose ready to tighten.

"This won't work if we don't come up with a plan soon. Did you figure anything out, Jaune?" Weiss looked back to see Jaune inside his helmet. The snakes were both coming in to strike him in his defenseless state, but Blake and Pyrrha's personas drove the snakes back again, Freya with fire and Baldr with its spear.

"I… I think I've got something. They're the same shadow, but the weaknesses differ depending on the heads!" Jaune called, his head looking back and forth between them. "Weiss, focus on the white head. It hates the ice, and Ruby, use Tyr to hit the black head with wind!"

The two girls nodded to each other. As the heads came toward the group once more, the girls spun, coming back to back with one another to face their respective enemies. Their Evokers went off in unison, and Tyr and Idunne floated above them. Idunne's bufu ice attack struck the white snake hard, causing it to fall to the ground. At the same time, Tyr's garu wind strike sent the black head straight into the ground with another hard thud.

The body of the snake had nearly completely encompassed the group, but with the heads down the team used this chance. Following Blake's lead, the persona users ran up onto the snake's body and outside of the coiling circle that had been threatening to squeeze them all within moments. They landed outside of its massive form, now standing with their back to the trees and no longer surrounded. The snake was only down for a few moments before coiling back up for another strike.

"Hit'em again, Weiss! Ruby!" Jaune's voice called out at the same time as the snake's two heads hissed violently, both diving in toward the team. As Idunne and Tyr appeared once more, the snake found its twin heads driven violently into the ground. Everyone rushed forward, weapons drawn, striking at whatever parts of the snake they could get their hands on. Jaune's blade arced in the air straight toward the center of the snake, where the black and white line met each other. As his blade struck between them, the Taijitu's body began to emit a thick, black smoke as it dissipated.

Its loud, pained his died away as the team watched the creature dissipate into nothingness. Blake, Pyrrha, Weiss, Ruby, and Jaune all paused and looked at each other, panting heavily. Their tired faces all turned to smiles as they saw that they had defeated the creature, and the smiles turned into cheers. "W-we did it!" Blake called out. "We beat another shadow!"

The team all raised their fists and weapons happily, but then a strange sound behind them – like stone grinding on stone – grabbed their attention. They all turned to face this new noise only to find that it was a small stone circle rising out of the ground in the center of the arena. The stone circle etched out a small door; it had the roman numeral for 1 on it. The party all looked at each other, smiled, and walked through.

* * *

"We're back at the entrance?" Jaune inquired as they looked around themselves. They found they were in the small resting space that was right on the other side of the door to Muspell. As they glanced around, they saw the other similar door shapes painted on the walls… only this time, the door with the roman numeral for 2 looked more… substantial. As though the previous simple engraving on the wall was now three dimensional.

"I think we can go further next time." Ruby said, looking the door over. "I guess we just… beat the first part of Muspell?" She glanced at the others, who all nodded with her.

"Good job, everyone! We hunted the heck out of that shadow." Jaune said, pulling everyone in for a group hug. Everyone joined in, smiling, before Ruby took a couple of steps back.

"Wait, that's it, Jaune!" Ruby cried, her voice going two octaves higher. Jaune tilted his head, looking at her in confusion, but she simply continued on. "Hunters! That's what we are! We hunt shadows, so that's what we can call ourselves! Hunters!"

"And Huntresses." Blake added, matter-of-factly.

"I suppose Hunter is rather unisex anyway." Pyrrha said simply. "I think it's a fitting name."

"Succinct and to the point. I like it." Weiss nodded her agreement with a smile.

"Then there we have it! We're team Shadow Hunters!... and huntresses." Ruby added, nodding to herself.

 _Thou art I…  
And I am thou…  
Thy story progresses to the next chapter…  
Thy Personas of the Fool Arcana shall be stronger…_

Jaune smiled as Hodr's voice echoed in his head. He gave out a light hearted chuckle. It was a small thing, but an important thing. J-Power had been a fun name, but now… the feeling of being part of something in him felt renewed. Now, he was a Shadow Hunter.


	21. Chapter 20

Friday, May 5th

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

Jaune sat once again in the strange blue and purple classroom surrounded by the dolls of his friends. Though Blake, Ruby, and Pyrrha all sat straight up as usual, the doll of Weiss's head was still down over her desk. Jaune frowned slightly at the sight of it; it was another thing on his list – repair his relationship with Weiss so his team could be even stronger. On his own desk sat a card that he expected – a new member of the Fool arcana. This one was named Ose, and appeared as an orange leopard standing on its hind legs and holding two blades in its hands, a large cape billowing heroically behind it. Jaune glanced up from the card to the ever-present blackboard, which read "Advancement".

"I believe congratulations are in order." For the first time in quite a while, Jaune looked up to see Glynda sitting cross-legged at the edge of Ozpin's desk. Ozpin, as usual, was seated and glancing over his spectacles at Jaune, who was slowly standing from his desk. "It seems that you've eliminated another of these rambunctious Shadows, and explored more of this world."

"Oh, um… thanks. I didn't really do much, though." He looked at the dolls around him. "It was a team effort, when you think about it."

"Don't sell yourself short." Ozpin said, his face cracking into a knowing smile. "Miss Rose, Miss Nikos, Miss Schnee, and Miss Belladonna have all done excellently, that's for certain. But the thread that holds them together – that would be you, Mister Arc – is just as important." He adjusted his glasses slightly, leaning back in his chair. "Even if you don't perform flashy, impressive attacks, you're still vital to the cause."

"I think I'm finally starting to understand that now." Jaune said as he dropped the Ose card on Blake's desk. The card immediately snapped into place, glowing faintly to let Jaune know that Ose had become part of Blake's repertoire of Personas. He wondered, vaguely, if she could sense something even as he placed it – or if it was an instinctual thing that happened with the Grimm Hour. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that Blake's already cat-like persona was getting an appropriate feline friend.

"Would you like to perform a fusion?" Glynda asked while holding her stick. "You never know what dangers lie ahead."

"Actually, Glynda, I was more curious about you." Jaune said, looking between her and Ozpin.

Glynda sat up, straightening her back and looking Jaune over as she wiped her pencil skirt with her hands. She then pulled her glasses to the brim of her nose and pushed them back up. "Oh? Do tell, Mister Arc."

"Well, Ozpin was here last time, right? But you weren't. He says he's the… keeper?" Jaune looked to Ozpin to clarify if his answer was acceptable. Ozpin gave a nonchalant shrug, seeming to say 'sure, that works'. "Of the Velvet Room. You're his assistant though, right? So it's possible for you to… not be here?"

Glynda looked at Ozpin, who simply nodded over his steepled fingers. She slowly turned back to Jaune. "Well, I suppose so. My duty is here with Ozpin, assisting people like you who visit our Velvet Room. That said, I do sometimes… wander." She glanced at the door that Jaune knew to be the exit to their calm, blue, extradimensional space. "So yes, if I wished to do so, I could leave."

"Do you… want to?" Jaune said, gesturing to the door. "Not forever, but just… would you like to see the world outside with me sometime? Maybe you could help me more if you knew where I was coming from."

Glynda glanced at Ozpin, who once again nodded over his steepled fingers. Glynda raised her eyebrow quizzically at Jaune, biting her lip for a moment in thought. She looked at the floor for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Not at this time, young man. I am, however, appreciative of the offer, and may take you up on it in the future." She glanced up at him, meeting his gaze. "Is this acceptable?"

"I um… yeah, actually. We'll plan on it for later." He smiled to her, then felt a sharp, yet familiar, sensation in the back of his head. The voice that had previously sounded like Ozpin was sounding more and more like Hodr to him.

 _Thou art I… and I am thou…  
Thou hast established a new bond…  
It gives a new verse to thy story…  
Thou shalt be blessed with Personas of the Priestess Arcana…_

His eyes widened as he looked at Ozpin and Glynda, whose eyes also seemed somewhat wide in shock. Jaune looked back at his desk and found a new card idly sitting there, as though it had always been there. This one had a demure looking, beautifully garbed, tan-skinned woman holding a stringed instrument that reminded Jaune vaguely of a banjo. The name at the bottom read Sarasvati, of the Priestess Arcana. Jaune smiled, and after reading it over a moment, gently slid the new card into Pyrrha's possession.

"Well, Mister Arc, the surprises never do cease." Ozpin said with a hint of laughter in his voice as he looked between his assistant and the young man across his desk. "Perhaps now Glynda will gain a much more diverse sense of the world outside, thanks to you."

"I suppose that's true." Glynda said with a bit of a bite in her tone. "Though you needn't be so cheerful about it."

Jaune flashed the two a grin as he headed toward the door. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later, new friend." As he gave his best fully-toothed smile to Glynda, he couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions coming from her; one of bitter cold, but one of a very small – but very present – warmth.

* * *

-Thud-

"I don't understand a word of this crap." Adam idly kicked the tree he was standing next to in the forest of Forever Fall near Beacon Academy. His boot was slowly scraping the bark off of the tree, one stubborn kick at a time. The rest of team Salem had split off save for Cinder, who was leaning on a tree nearby, idly glancing at the back of her nails.

"That giant thing you summoned is called a Shadow. They're an…" her eyes rolled in her head as she thought of a way to dumb the concept down for Adam, who seemed to be struggling with the idea of the Grimm Hour as a whole – despite his near death experience with it only a week prior. "Overtly pure," she decided, "expression of your truest feelings and desires. They can only manifest during the Grimm Hour, and only during times of stress."

"Ok, yeah, I got that part." Adam said, thinking back on the 'other him' that had appeared in the middle of the warehouse. "The part that bugs me, is where do those kids come in, and my…" his mind flashed to the image of Blake, and the fearsome cat-woman that floated behind her, attacking him with fire. "My… ex. How did she and those dumb kids fight it off? What were those things they… they summoned to fight that other me?"

"Those would be Personas." Cinder said calmly, eyes glancing at the dark sky. She picked a set of stars and let her eyes settle on it. "When one confronts their inner self, and accepts it as part of them, one gains the power to control their Shadow. Personas are kind of like…" Cinder let her mind drift as she slowly walked toward Adam. "A mask." She said finally. "A way to make a present a part of yourself to the world. A way to fight against those that would dare to stand before you."

"So… by ignoring that dumb version of me, it became a big angry bull that tried to kill me." He kicked the tree even harder, and was now making decent headway on scraping off the most outer layer of bark. "But if I had accepted it, I'd have this… thing that I could summon. Something that would make sure no one stopped me from doing what I wanted?"

\- thud –

He kicked the tree again. "Why are you just telling me now?! If you told me earlier, I wouldn't be in this situation."

–Thud –

"Blake wouldn't have been able to boss me around."

–THUD –

"I'd still have the damn Schnee girl."

–THUD –

"And no one."

–THUD –

"Would ever make me…"

–THUD –

"FEEL."

–THUD –

"WEAK!"

–THUD –

Adam continued to slam his boot against the tree, his anger rising with each passing moment. The bark had been scratched off and he was leaving a scar on the tree now, his boot continually smashing into it over and over. His mind continued to flash back to Blake, and her terrifying Persona. More than that, his mind wandered to the Shadow, and the way it broke free. His own weakness, when faced with just himself.

"What if I told you that it wasn't too late?" Cinder's voice dangled softly in the air, a velvet thread that wrapped itself slowly around Adam's head before diving into his ears.

The kicking stopped.

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" He said, his back straightening.

"What I mean is," Cinder said as she slowly approached Adam. She gently let her hand slide across his shoulder blades, before coming to a rest atop his right arm. "What if I told you that you could still have a Persona? Would that change things?"

Adam's eyes went wide under his mask as he looked at the ground. The image flashed to him approaching Blake again, and her terrifying Persona… only this time, it was matched by a Persona of his own - a beast under his control, ready to take her on. Ready to let him do what he wanted to do… no, _needed_ to do. He started to nod slowly, his head coming up to stare at the tree. "That would change things. That would change things quite a bit."

"That's such a nice thing to hear, Adam." Cinder's lips curled up, her voice almost purring. "Then I'm ever so glad you could join us." She let her hand linger on his shoulder for a moment longer before letting it slide down his arm. She walked around him, standing between him and the tree. She reached into the folds of her tan cloak, pulling out a small syringe and a small, sealed vial with a slightly luminescent orange liquid inside. "Because I have just what you're looking for."


	22. Chapter 21

Monday, May 8th

"Have you heard the rumors?" A girl with short cut, neon pink hair was chit-chatting with a thin, yet lean built boy with short black locks, walking side by side in front of Jaune and Ruby. The girl's white jacket over her school uniform had a giant valentine on the back. "Supposedly, if you text a certain number, and say a name, then that person just… disappears. Could you believe that?! Like if for example you really wanted to pass that mid-term but your crazy teacher hated your guts, you could just say something like 'Mr. Oobleck' and make him disappear. Not that I ever would, and not that I'm failing my history class or anything, but could you just imagine?! What an easy way to get an A!"

She continued to talk for quite a bit, her voice getting faster and louder as Jaune and Ruby side-eyed each other. The guy next to her seemed content to remain quiet for the entire conversation (if you could call it a conversation) and Ruby and Jaune split off before the pink haired girl had finished speaking. As they branched off, they kept glancing at each other and looking around to make sure no one was in hearing distance.

"So… that's weird, right?" Ruby said, turning as the pink haired girl and dark haired boy disappeared from view. "Seems kinda sketchy if you ask me."

"It's probably just a rumor." Jaune said with a nod. "I mean, otherwise people would be vanishing left and right."

"Well, Weiss did disappear for a second there." Ruby admitted with a sigh. "Maybe Adam's up to more crazy shenanigans." Ruby glanced up and away for a moment before continuing. "Though I guess that was a bit more personal, according to Blake."

"Yeah, and I think she's right. Plus I think Blake scared Adam away for a good long while." Jaune seemed to mull the idea over as they walked, the nearly-summer sun shining down on them. It was temperate, but not quite warm enough for the students to switch to their summer outfits. Jaune would be glad to change into a short-sleeved shirts and lose the blazer. "For all we know, he went all the way back to Menagerie."

"Yeah… you're probably right, just a silly rumor." Ruby agreed, and the two made their way straight back to the dorm. Once inside, the two looked around to see that they were apparently the first ones back. Ruby gave a shrug and headed up to her room. "Make sure you study for that test tomorrow Jaune! Then we'll be all set for more Muspell on Wednesday." She gave a small wave and disappeared up the stairs.

Jaune gave a deep sigh and hunched his shoulders, then straightened himself up. He had nearly forgotten about the looming math test, but decided it would be best to listen to Ruby. If he buckled down and studied, he would have a chance to ace it. Then it was just a matter of beating up shadows in Muspell with the girls, and all would be well. As these thoughts ran through his head, he gave a resolute nod and bounced up the stairs.

Jaune's spirits were raised as he headed toward his dorm room. As he reached out and touched the handle, he felt something… odd. Like something was off with his walk here. He stepped back and did a double take, and looked around, wondering what the source of the feeling could possibly be. He glanced around; the normal third floor hallway sat just like it always did. He shrugged, about to chalk it up to nerves about the test, when suddenly he realized what was wrong – the door to the end of the hallway was sitting slightly ajar.

Jaune's mind started to race; had the Shadow Hunters been infiltrated? Surely Ruby would know if her uncle had come back before now. Jaune cautiously slid out of his sneakers and carefully padded his way toward the door. He tried to hold his breath, steadying his breathing as he came to the door. Before he even reached it, he could smell… some kind of awful stench he didn't quite recognize. His mind kept racing; was there a dead body in there? He sniffed the air slightly again – or an entire pile of dead bodies?

As he cracked open the door, he could see that the room was, in fact, occupied by a person; though whether or not that person was among the living was still up for debate. A tall, thin, scrawny man with a mess of brown hair and pale skin was lying flat on his back. His shoes were kicked off, but otherwise he was still fully dressed in a messy, stained, white button-up shirt and black slacks that were tight around his legs. His face held a rough five o'clock shadow, and he was snoring slightly.

Lying on one corner of the bed sat a weapon that Jaune thought vaguely resembled Ruby's scythe. It was cornered neatly between the bed and the bedside table that held five empty glass bottles, and a sixth that was half-emptied and held an amber liquid of some kind. Jaune slowly put two and two together and realized that the smell was definitely coming from the bottles, and that this was either Ruby's uncle or a homeless, drunk vagrant needing a place to stay… or perhaps both. Jaune slowly tiptoed back away from the room and decided that this was definitely something that he was not going to solve alone.

* * *

"Hey, Ruby, I think you need to see something." Jaune said cautiously from outside her door. There was the sound of something falling over, then making it to the door. Ruby cracked the door open very slowly and could see Jaune standing there. He noticed that her face was particularly flush and that she didn't seem to have anything covering the one shoulder he could see. She gave a small smile and nodded slowly. "Ahem – I uh, sure thing, Jaune! Just gimme a sec." She shut the door in his face.

Jaune heard more shuffling, and then Ruby appeared in her bright red hoodie and shorts. "Sorry, you caught me coming out of the shower there. What's up?"

"Well, uh…" Jaune's face flushed for a moment and he had to shake his head a bit to regain composure. "Right, um… you know how I'm the only guy who lives in the dorms?" he said cautiously as they headed upstairs. "And how no one else lives on that floor except me?"

Ruby just nodded along as they turned onto the third floor. "Well… yeah?"

Jaune pointed to the end of the hallway, where the door that was meant for the team's supervisor sat slightly ajar. He watched Ruby's eyes widen before she darted down the hallway at an incredible speed. She rushed right into the room, threw the door wide open, and ran inside, jumping on her unconscious – and thus, unsuspecting – victim.

"UNCLE QROW'S BACK!"

Jaune heard her cheer from outside in the hall. When he caught up to Ruby, he saw that she had jumped onto the bed and was sitting on top of the stomach of the man that was apparently her Uncle. As she bounced in place, Qrow shot up with a sputtering of coughs.

"OOPH… h-hey kiddo." Qrow grunted as he sat up. Ruby's arms went right around his neck, and he returned the hug. "D-didn't 'spect to shee you sho shoon…" he muttered drunkenly, patting her on the back. He stifled a belch, then slowly stood up. "S'good to shee you kidsh takin' care o things while we were gone…" he muttered as he stood, swaying slightly.

"I um… maybe we should let you rest…" Ruby said finally, noting the bottles on the bedside table for the first time. She had apparently just now realized how far-gone-drunk her Uncle was, and stood awkwardly as she backed toward the door and Jaune. "But um… I'm glad… glad you're back!" She chimed, but Jaune noted that her enthusiasm sounded… dampened. Weak. He wondered if Ruby's dealing with her Uncle's drunk habits was a normal occasion before he showed up.

"Oh… yeah, that'sh… that'sh a good idea kiddo." Qrow muttered before flopping back onto the bed. "I'll give ya guys a proper hello later'n all…" his voice slowly drifted off as he spoke, giving a half-hearted wave from his prone position on the bed. Ruby quietly ushered Jaune out of the room and closed it behind herself. As soon as the door shut, Jaune couldn't help but pick up the faint sound of snoring.

"So… that's your Uncle Qrow." Jaune stated in his most matter of fact, very non-judgmental, god-I-hope-I-don't-insult-Ruby way.

"Yup." Ruby acknowledged.

"And… he's our supervisor?" Jaune added in what he hoped was also a very non-judgmental manner.

"Yup." Ruby accepted, with a defeated shrug of her shoulders. "I was so glad he was back that I… kind of forgot his habits."

The two of them headed toward the end of the hallway. Ruby started to head downstairs and Jaune followed. "Do you… wanna talk about it?" He inquired helpfully. "I don't… have much experience with this kinda thing, but I'm here to listen." He was walking side-by-side with Ruby, and they stopped at her door, which she leaned against.

"I um… maybe not right now." She went to open the door, then paused halfway. She turned around and pulled Jaune into a sudden, quick hug. "But I know you're here for me, Jaune. Thanks." She squeezed him tight, then let go and smiled. "I'm just gonna be in my room. Could you… let Weiss and Pyrrha know he's back if you see them? I don't think he'll even be up until tomorrow morning…"

"No prob, Ruby. You can count on me." He gave her an earnest thumbs up, blushing slightly from the very rapid and unexpected hug, and smiled at her until she disappeared behind her closing door. "Good night!" He chimed through the wood, and he heard a muffled response that sounded like a return 'Good night'. He shrugged to himself and headed back downstairs to his room. As he lay in bed, he wondered just what kind of supervisor Qrow was going to turn out to be…

* * *

Tuesday, May 9th

"So… Ruby's uncle is our supervisor for the dorms?" Blake's brow furrowed as she and Jaune ate their lunch. Jaune was munching on a simple hot dog with ketchup and mustard while Blake was biting into a tuna salad sandwich. "And also the…" she looked around the small cafeteria before leaning in to whisper "… the Shadow Hunters?"

"Right." Weiss said calmly from beside her as she stabbed into her salad with a fork. "And he just got back from some mission that was apparently too top-secret to let us know about."

"Mph-mphmph?" Jaune inquired through a mouth full of hot dog. Weiss rolled her eyes slightly, but could tell from his intonation that he was saying 'Top-secret?' He gulped down the last of his bite, then continued speaking. "Does he like… work for someone higher up?"

"Well… not necessarily." Weiss said calmly, looking back and forth between Blake and Jaune. "My family _does_ pay for our dorms, but we're the only real… Shadow Hunters, per say. At least, we are currently." She stabbed through a strawberry and promptly swallowed it. "I don't know all of the details, but apparently Qrow used to do the same things we do."

"All by himself?" Blake followed, wide-eyed. "It's hard enough just keeping up with the five of us… could you imagine going solo?"

"I know he had some help." Weiss said casually. "But it's all very… confidential. I know my family was involved, and they weren't exactly surprised that I awakened to the Grimm Hour… that's why they funded this dorm and hired Qrow, so we could do more research. They just… don't share a lot of information with me about the past, and Qrow is too tight-lipped to say anything - even when he's so drunk he barely remembers my name."

"So in a way, we're all working for… the Schnee company?" Blake asked, putting down her sandwich and furrowing her brow. "Like their minions or something?"

"That's not quite it." Weiss said, reaching over and patting Blake on the hand. Blake looked up and met Weiss's softly smiling eyes. "They may fund the dorm, but the reality is that this does help people. We're all volunteers; no one's making us do it… so if my family can help us help others, it's worth it, right?"

Blake nodded and returned Weiss's smile. "You're right. Sorry, I'm just… still a little… uncomfortable with the Schnee company."

"What kind of supervisor was he before he left?" Jaune interrupted as he looked between the girls, hoping to avoid an awkward conversation when he felt like he needed answers. Blake looked somewhat relieved, letting out a breath and a smile despite being cut off. "Was he at least a good leader?"

"Oh yes." Weiss nodded as she looked back to Jaune from Blake and let her hand go. "He might have his..." she paused for a tactful moment, "vices. However, there's something about Muspell that makes him much more serious... He trained us hard and made sure we were extremely careful, which is partly why we never made it particularly far before he and Yang left." Weiss put her fork down and put her finger to her chin. "Speaking of, if he's back…" she took a small sip of tea from a thermos before continuing, almost ominously, "where is Yang?"


	23. Chapter 22

Tuesday, May 9th

"Ahhh, that's the stuff. Feels good to be out in the field again." Qrow said calmly as he swung his scythe experimentally. The Grimm Hour was about to stretch over Beacon, and Qrow stood in Forever Fall with Jaune, Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha. There was a tense atmosphere among the students, but Qrow's lackadaisical manner gave no impression that he felt it. "Shame we couldn't all make it though, I'm glad to see how far we could tear into this mess with Pyrrha around. I'm sure you've only gotten better since I left."

"I have most certainly kept up my training, supervisor." Pyrrha said with a smile, rolling her shoulders and stretching. "You may yet be surprised to see my progress."

"Uh… Mister Qrow?" Jaune said, raising his hand slightly. In response, his supervisor simply raised one eyebrow at him. Taking that to mean he could continue, Jaune kept speaking. "What exactly… is our plan anyway?"

"What kinda plan do we need?" Qrow said calmly. "We go in, we kill Shadows, we leave when we're good and done." He stretched and yawned. "What's your deal again, anyway?"

"Jaune's persona is Hodr. He's our support!" Ruby said cheerfully. "Jaune uses him to analyze enemies and keep us informed about what's going on." She smiled at Jaune and walked over to him, patting him on the shoulder. "Without him, we'd all be in the dark."

Jaune smiled back, glad to see that Ruby looked as perky as he'd ever seen her; perhaps even perkier. She was positively bouncing with positivity, and Jaune could tell she was glad to be around her uncle again. Still, he wondered what drove Qrow to be so… Qrow.

"Don't we have Idunne for that?" Qrow said, turning to Weiss. "You didn't go and lose your analytical mind there did you, Ice Princess?"

Weiss raised her chin and laughed. "Ha! Hardly. Idunne could still analyze should we need it, but thanks to Jaune and Hodr, we shouldn't." She flourished her rapier experimentally. "For now, I'm on the frontline. Speaking of, didn't you tell Ruby you were getting too old for this nonsense before you left?" Weiss smirked at Qrow, who scratched the back of his head.

"I did, but… being gone for so long with all those stuffy-..." he cut himself short as every eye landed on him. His shoulders tensed as he realized he almost let some information loose about his secret project. He sighed for a moment, shrugging it off. "You know what, never mind. Let's just say I'm ready to get back in on the action." He walked up and patted Ruby on the shoulder. "Try not to fall behind your old Uncle, hey kiddo?"

"Not a chance!" Ruby cheered as the Grimm Hour set in. The group watched as the school that was once Beacon became Muspell, with the giant swirling vortex of fire floating at the entrance. The group approached the entrance with Qrow and Ruby taking the lead.

* * *

"So you got through the forest without me, huh?" Qrow said as he glanced around. They seemed to be in a cavern, deep underground. The entire area around them was pitch black. "Is it just me or are we blind as bats in here?"

"Hold on, I can check." Jaune put his evoker to his head and pulled the trigger. As Hodr manifested, Jaune got a glance through the knight's helmet at his surroundings. Outlined in blue, he could make out that they were in a small building of some kind. There were small windows lining the room, and a door at the front. As Jaune glanced around, he noticed a small glowing switch next to the wall.

"Hey, Pyrrha. There's a switch on your left." Jaune chimed into her head. In response, Pyrrha reached out, felt the switch, and pulled. There was a small hum as electricity seemed to fill their surroundings. The room light up, and the entire group could now see that the small chamber they were in was largely made of metal. There was a carpet on the ground in shades of black, white, and pink.

"That's an…" Weiss paused for a moment as she took in her surroundings, "interesting choice in décor." She looked around herself, finding that in the small compartment she could barely swing her arms without hitting Ruby or Pyrrha.

"It's a bit cramped in here." Ruby said quietly as she maneuvered her Scythe out of the way of the others. "We should be pretty careful as we pro-"

-BOOM-

The entire room shook briefly, causing Ruby to nearly lose her footing. Jaune started to fall, but Pyrrha was already next to him, holding him up in his mostly immobile state while Hodr was present. They all looked at each other as they all gained the sudden sense of vertigo from standing in a moving vehicle.

"Woah, woah, woah, where are we going?" Jaune shouted as he looked around frantically. There were no signs of shadows anywhere he looked.

"Let's see here…" Weiss glanced out the window… to find that the world outside this moving vehicle was simply more swirls of black, white, and pink, just like the pattern on the floor. "Nope, nothing. Guess we're still in Muspell."

"Wait a second…" Qrow said as he moved toward the door. As soon as he neared it, the door slid open, revealing another room nearly identical to the one he had just left. As he glanced around, watching the swirling patterns through the window move past, he sighed to himself. Ruby followed right behind, and looked around.

"Wait a second, are we…"

Then, in unison, she and Qrow both glanced at the rest of the gathered Shadow Hunters and spoke.

"On a train?"

As they spoke, on the far side of the room a small group of four shadows started to manifest. They were tall and thin, with hinges on their arms and legs that made their movements seem robotic. As they stood up straight, small rifles appeared in their hands and their masks popped up over their heads, showing the Roman numeral two. As they levelled their rifles at the Shadow Hunters, the hunters leapt into action.

Weiss was up first, bringing her blade in an overarching slice down one shadow, then spinning and pulling her Evoker with her other hand in one smooth motion. As the barrel fired into her temple, Idunne appeared and blew an icy kiss into the Shadow's face, causing it to fall over on its back. She spun again swiftly, bringing her rapier down into the shadow's chest. With her coup de grace, the shadow exploded into black powder.

The military robot shadow next in line fired a few bullets at Ruby, but Pyrrha levelled herself between the Shadow and her companion, shield up. Ruby nodded and went back to back with Pyrrha. Pyrrha began moving forward, pressing her shield against the bullets and heading in a straight line to the shadow; Ruby keeping her back to Pyrrha the whole time. As they got closer, Pyrrha knelt down and Ruby pulled her Evoker out.

"Tyr!"

As her Persona's bright red cloak manifested, he thrust his sword into the air. A burst of wind appeared under Ruby's feet, and she launched up and over Pyrrha's knelt form. She came in a wide arc over her friend and directly into the Shadow, slashing through him at blinding speed with her scythe. The shadow dissipated where it stood, vanishing into particles of black dust.

"Ruby, look out!" Jaune called from the back side of the train as the other two shadows levelled their rifles at Ruby. Before Ruby acknowledged him, Qrow was already on one, planting his foot squarely in its masked face. He pulled out his scythe and stabbed into the Shadow, then reached for his Evoker. As he pulled the trigger under his chin, he let out a cry.

"Huginn!"

Qrow's persona manifested above him – a large, shimmering bird that seemed to be made of crushed blue opal. The light blue-green opalescence gave it an almost stained glass appearance as it opened its beak and let out a cry, spreading its giant wings. On the creature's back was what appeared to be a man riding the creature; but upon further inspection, was a person whose torso simply ended at the waist and blended into the gem-like raven. The person was wearing a large cloak and hood made of black feathers that stretched out behind it, and was holding an ornate black bow with an arrow knocked.

Huginn pulled back its bow and let the arrow fly. It flew straight and true, knocking the creature back into the wall of the moving train. Qrow launched himself off of the shadow he had just kicked, and dived at the shadow his Persona had just struck, stabbing into it with his scythe. As he did so, the Shadow started to vanish, as did Huginn.

"Wait, Qrow, behind you!" Jaune called as the Shadow he had just leapt from straightened itself up and launched a few shots at Qrow. Qrow turned just in time to find the bullets hitting him in the chest and sending him stumbling back. "It's weak to ice!" Jaune called, and Pyrrha nodded, pulling the trigger on her evoker.

"Sarasvati!" The blue skinned woman playing a guitar-like instrument appeared in front of her. She strummed a simple chord and ice started to form around the shadow before completely encasing it. A split moment later, with the sound of breaking glass the ice shattered. Where the shadow was, now only black particles started to float into the air.

With the shadows defeated, the party all joined in together and smiled at each other, looking around the safety of the now cleared chamber… but Qrow walked slowly up to the party with a look of surprise on his face. He levelled his eyes on Pyrrha, then looked at the others. When he saw that their faces weren't confused by Pyrrha's sudden persona, he stared right back at her.

"What the hell was that?"

* * *

A woman with long, luscious golden locks sat leaning over a reception desk in a pitch white, perfectly clean, corporate seeming room. She stood with her legs slightly crossed, one arm on the desk holding her head up as she glanced around. She seemed utterly, completely bored. She cracked open her cellphone and opened up a game while she waited.

As the minutes ticked by, eventually a man in a pristine white coat came up to the counter. He held a small clipboard in his hands and signed a few documents, then handed it over to the blond. She yawned again, put down her phone, and signed quickly on the clipboard before returning it back. As she did so, she glanced up at the man who had handed her the forms. He was tall, a little robust around the waist, and had an orange colored mustache under his nose.

"So… this thing. This, like, super-secret weapon that my supervisor wanted me to pick up… Surely you can tell me what it is, right?" The blond batted her eyelashes at the man, who sighed. He looked down at the forms and back at the blond, then nodded to himself. He gestured for her to come closer. Tentatively, the woman leaned over the counter. The man whispered, quickly, in her ear.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need you to repeat that for me. Just one more time. 'cus that sounded a little…" she twirled her right hand around her right ear in a circular motion. "A little crazy, if you get my meaning."

The man sighed and leaned forward, whispering in her ear once more. The blond straightened her back slowly, nodding, as she came to a standing position. The man in the coat disappeared behind a door, and shortly thereafter returned with a loading cart; one that had a large, roughly person-sized black box on it. The box was labelled with the Schnee company logo. The blond nodded and took the cart from the man, pushing it out the door.

As she placed the box onto the rig on the back of her motorcycle, the blond looked around to make sure no one was there. When the coast was clear, she glanced back up at the box. After poking around for a few seconds, she found nothing that resembled a way to open the thing. She tentatively tapped the front of it, on the logo – and once more, nothing happened.

"Weird." The blond shrugged and saddled her motorcycle. As she revved the engine, she looked back over her shoulder at the Schnee complex behind her. It was puritanical in its cleanliness, spotlessness, and efficiency. As she started to leave to head to Beacon, she mused out loud to herself. "I must be losing it." She chuckled slightly, glancing back once more at the box. "I could've sworn the guy said I just picked up a robot."

* * *

Kinnakoa here! Had a bit of trouble getting the post up yesterday, but we should be back on schedule next week. Be sure to tune in for more Grimm Hour.


	24. Chapter 23

"Uncle Qrow, you're hurt!" Ruby said as Qrow stood there staring at Pyrrha. Ruby pulled out her Evoker and fired it into her head, summoning her Pixie persona. The pixie floated there for a moment, spun in a circle, and unleashed a wave of blue glimmering pixie dust over Qrow. The wounds on his chest where he had taken the shadow bullets healed up, as though he were never harmed. Qrow stood there, eyes wide, head rapidly moving back and forth between Ruby and Pyrrha.

"You mean you can do it too?" Qrow glanced at the group, pointing to Jaune and Weiss. "Lemme guess, you guys also have a bunch of personas packed away in your pocket somewhere, right?"

"Well…" Weiss sheathed her blade and tilted her head slightly. She crossed her arms and glanced over at Jaune, who was a bit behind her, looking nervous. Weiss sighed, and shrugged her shoulders as she returned her gaze to Qrow. "I do not, but Jaune… also doesn't. At least, not precisely."

"I mean, I have a lot of Personas, I just… um…" Jaune scratched the back of his head, trying to find a way to explain. "I just… loan them out? To the others, I mean?" Jaune said, looking around nervously. Qrow's stare narrowed on Jaune, which only caused him to flounder more. He started to stare at the floor, suddenly becoming very interested in his own shoes as he kept stumbling through his words. "I mean, I go to this like… room place, and there's these people there, and I get cards and-"

"So it's you." Qrow said, walking through the rest of the Shadow Hunters and landing right in front of Jaune. He wasn't that much taller than Jaune, but to Jaune it felt like he was being towered over by Qrow's tense, looming presence. Qrow crossed his arms looking down at Jaune. Jaune glanced up briefly, and met his gaze, then returned to staring at the floor, somehow feeling like he'd done something terribly wrong. "You're the new Wild Card." Awe and regret rolled off of his tongue in equal parts as he said it.

At the words 'Wild Card', Jaune slowly raised his gaze to meet Qrow's and found pity in Qrow's eyes. "W-wait… you know what a Wild Card is?" Jaune glanced around Qrow at the rest of the group, who came to stand next to Jaune. "You… you know about the Velvet Room?"

Qrow sighed as he felt Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby's eyes on him. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, pacing slightly as he began to speak. "Yeah, yeah… the Velvet Room." He held out his right hand, using his left to count fingers for emphasis. "The Velvet Room, Ozpin, Wild Card, different Personas…" He sighed again and glanced back over at Jaune. "Just what kinda mess did you land yourself in, kid?"

"Wait, if you knew about this the whole time…" Weiss stepped forward from the group, pointing a finger at her supervisor. "Why did we only hear about it when Jaune joined us? Why hadn't you told us before now?"

"And why do you seem so worried?" Ruby said, stepping forward as well. "Jaune giving us these new Personas has really helped with Muspell." She gestured to the train surrounding them. "If it hadn't been for him, we'd still be stuck in the forest. Is there something we should know?"

"Perhaps this is a conversation for another time." Pyrrha said diplomatically. Everyone immediately turned to stare daggers into her, but Pyrrha simply placed her shield and spear on her back nonchalantly as she kept speaking in her calm and even tone. "I also want answers to these questions, but in case you have forgotten, we are in hostile territory. "

"… Oh." Weiss and Ruby said, perfectly synchronized. As they looked around they immediately remembered that they were, in fact, in Muspell.

"Let's call it a day, guys." Jaune said as he popped his Evoker into its holster. He stopped avoiding Qrow's gaze, and was now staring his supervisor down. Qrow looked away briefly… and Jaune might have been imagining it, but for some reason he was getting the impression that Qrow was behaving as though he carried something on his shoulders. Behaving like someone who was guilty of something. "Our supervisor's got some things to tell us, apparently."

"Right." Ruby said, walking towards the entrance. "We'll get a good night's rest, then meet up to chat after class tomorrow."

"I'll be sure to tell Blake." Weiss said helpfully. "I should run into her around lunch."

"Then it's settled." Pyrrha said with finality. "After class tomorrow, we'll all be on the first floor. Isn't that right, supervisor?" Pyrrha stated as she glanced over her shoulder at Qrow.

"When did you kids start making all the decisions and plans?" Qrow said as he followed the rest of the group toward the exit. "But guess you got me. I'll spill the beans tomorrow. Promise."

Wednesday, May 10th

"So where's Qrow?" Jaune said as he sat next to Ruby, Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss on the dormitory first floor. He looked at the girls, and they all shared general looks of confusion. "He's supposed to explain everything to us, right?"

"Hopefully." Pyrrha said calmly. "Though Qrow has a habit of not being entirely straightforward. Particularly when we feel we need answers."

"Yup." Ruby agreed quietly as she looked at the other girls. "He still hasn't said where Yang is, either…" Ruby furrowed her brow. "Just that it's" she raised her hands and wiggled her fingers to make air quotes, "'confidential'. I hope she's safe."

"How hasn't she flunked out of school?" Blake said, leaning forward. "She's been gone for ages, right?"

Weiss, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Jaune all looked at her, then looked at each other. "That's… actually a good question." Jaune said, scratching his head. "How can she be out of school this long but still be here at Beacon?"

"Well," Weiss said, calmly, "that is one advantage of the Schnee family funding the dorm and having Qrow be her supervisor. We _may_ have fudged some of the paperwork to make it seem as though she would not be able to attend normal classes due to an accident." Weiss paused for a moment to cross her legs.

Pyrrha reached down and took a sip from the teacup she had sitting in front of her. She smiled to herself as she took the cup from her lips and looked over at Jaune. "We didn't want it to sound too cliché, but we knew that Qrow needed her assistance with his mission. " Pyrrha set the teacup back down, and looked at the rest of the Shadow Hunters. "So we told them that she was lost her right arm."

"… lost?" Jaune said, leaning forward. "Like... broken?"

Weiss shook her head. "According to the medical reports, it had to be amputated. She's been taking online classes while she recuperates in a Schnee company owned hospital. There's no telling how long it could possibly take for her to recover."

"Motorcycle accident." Ruby said, helpfully. "I was devastated."

"But she's actually fine, right?" Blake said, eyebrows raised. "She didn't _actually_ lose her arm, did she?"

"Devastated." Ruby said again, taking on a solemn tone as she looked down at her knees. She buried her face in her hands, and Weiss and Pyrrha both looked away awkwardly.

Jaune sucked in a deep breath. "Ruby, I'm so sorry, I had no-"

"Phffffft!" Ruby began chuckling from behind her hands, and then within moments she, Weiss, and Pyrrha all broke into laughter. "Phahaha, no, no… She didn't actually lose her arm." The girls kept laughing while Jaune and Blake shared concerned looks with each other. As the laughter died down and Ruby sighed to herself, she added "I hope she's okay though… I haven't heard from her in a while."

"What's all this ruckus?" Qrow said calmly as he approached the seated students. Tension immediately filled the room as all eyes settled on Qrow. He sighed to himself, walking toward the far side of the group and taking a seat.

"Guess it's time to talk, huh?" He set his feet on the coffee table and leaned back next to Jaune. Jaune sniffed the air and could immediately tell that Qrow apparently needed a bit of liquid courage to get himself to talk. The supervisor leaned back and stretched, letting the silence settle in as he made himself comfortable. The rest of the group shared worried glances, eyes meeting eyes as Qrow simply sat there in silence for a few passing moments that felt like an agonizing eternity.

"So, the kid here's got himself the Wild Card." Qrow said quietly as he reached over and ruffled Jaune's hair. In response, Jaune's shoulders stiffened as he sat up, adjusting his posture to make it harder for Qrow to reach him. "Well, he ain't the first. And he probably ain't gonna be the last one either." As he said it, he let another silence settle in over the group.

"Were…. Were you…?" Ruby asked, leaning forward in her seat. "Like… like Jaune?"

"Hardly." Qrow chuckled, which ended in a rather loud, unceremonious belch. He patted himself on the chest for a moment. "I wasn't a backline fighter. I was frontline. I also didn't pass my Personas around to any Tom, Dick, or Harry that wanted to use 'em. I kept them all for myself, switching between them on the fly as the situation called for."

Jaune's eyes widened as Qrow spoke. "So… you could just… use all of the Personas you got? The ones from the social links just joined Huginn in your heart? But what about the class room? The desks? The cards?" Jaune looked at his hands, and realized he was fidgeting as he spoke, his hands shaking.

"Wasn't no classroom." Qrow said quietly. "Least, not for me." He leaned forward and glanced sidelong at Jaune. He reached over at patted Jaune on the shoulder, and as a reflex Jaune sat straight up again, shuffling once more to shift his body weight away from Qrow. "Though I think I remember ol' Oz saying something like… 'this room is what you need it to be' or some crap. Been so long since I've seen him, I don't know if that's right or not." He let out a loud chuckle, but it was immediately followed by an awkward silence as only his laughter filled the room and echoed back at him.

"Why… why don't you do it anymore?" Blake tilted her head in his direction. "It sounds like an extremely useful skill to have. Pyrrha and Ruby seem… really powerful with their multiple personas."

"It definitely makes strategy easier." Weiss said, looking around the group. "It's almost hard to keep up with just Idunne." She looked at Jaune and made eye contact for a moment. Jaune found it hard to read – was she hoping for him to change that? He quickly wondered if there could be a chance to make that social link work in the future. His mind snapped back when Qrow spoke, though.

"Can't." Qrow said, calmly. "There isn't any room for me in the Velvet Room anymore. Turns out ol' Oz ain't fond of someone breaking that contract." He sighed as he leaned forward, cracking his knuckles. When someone runs away… when someone doesn't want to play this damn game anymore…" Qrow stared off into the distance. "Let's just be glad I've still got Huginn, yeah?"

At the word contract Jaune leaned forward again, staring hard at Qrow. Qrow simply kept staring ahead, looking at no one and nothing in particular. "Wh-what do you mean? You broke the contract?"

"Easy." Qrow said, leaning back. "I promised I would do somethin', and I didn't." Qrow gave a big stretch and a yawn as he seated himself back up. "Ever since then, I can't even see the door anymore. I went all the places that it should've been, but… it wasn't there. Lost the damn key, too."

"What did you say you would do?" Pyrrha asked.

"Said I'd save the world." Qrow said, calmly. "It was right there in front of me too, when you think about it. Woulda been a lot easier if I had just done it in the first place." He lifted up his right hand and put it over his face, letting out a big sigh. "But I couldn't do it, you know." Qrow dropped his hand, and his eyes seemed to be watering slightly as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling. A silence settled over the room again. Qrow took a few deep breaths, then finally spoke.

"It's a messed up thing for anyone to ask you, you know." He said, as he leaned forward again, looking at each of the Shadow Hunters in turn. "I don't think Oz thinks like us, though. He just wanted me to do the whole hero gig, which is fine, but… the thing he forgot is that the person I had to beat… the so called" he mimicked Ruby's earlier motion with his fingers, making small quotes in the air "bad guy… that's a person too."

"Who was it?" Ruby inquired as she stared him in the eyes. "Who did he want you to defeat?"

"The worst person he could of picked, honestly." Qrow stared Ruby back in the eyes and nodded. "He wanted me to kill Raven. He wanted me to kill my sister."


	25. Chapter 24

Thursday, May 11th

"I mean… it sounds crazy, right?" Jaune said to Ruby and Blake as they all headed to the dorms together. "Why would Ozpin do something like that?" He put his hands up behind his head, letting his bag dangle behind his back. " He hasn't asked me to do… well, much of anything really." He held out his right hand, gesticulating as he spoke, still holding the bag behind him with his left. "I mean, sure he did some mumbo jumbo about being on my best behavior and… making my story into something worth talking about…. Or something."

"Do you think that's where his…" Blake paused for a moment, looking for a tactful way to say what she wanted to say. "His problem comes from?" She used her hand to pantomime drinking from a glass.

"I'd think so." Jaune said back, wracking his brain. "I mean, if Ozpin asked me to hurt my sister, I think I'd be in a pretty weird state too." He stretched wide. "Having these powers is really cool and all, and… to be honest, I don't think I was much of anything before…" he gestured to Ruby and Blake and himself. "Before this. Without this Persona, Grimm Hour, Musspell stuff, I was just a deadbeat kid."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Blake responded quickly. "You were nice to me when we first met, and that wasn't in the Grimm Hour." She met his eyes, lips curling. "I think you might just be a nice person, Jaune."

"Aw, shucks." Jaune smiled a goofy smile back. "You're pretty cool too, you know. It's not every day you see someone strong enough to scare the crap out of their abusive boyfriend." He chuckled to himself. "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Adam wet himself on the way out after what you pulled with Freya."

Blake blushed slightly. She coughed into her hand, mentally regaining her composure for a moment in the silence after Jaune spoke. "I couldn't have done it without you." She blushed again slightly, then readjusted. "All of you, I mean. Working together."

"We're just glad to have you on the team, Blake." Jaune grinned at her. "Isn't that right, Ruby?" He turned and looked at Ruby, who had been quiet the entire walk back. Weirdly quiet, now that he thought about it. She seemed to be staring off into space.

"Huh?" Ruby's face shot forward with a sudden start. "Oh, um… yeah! Definitely glad to have you on board, Blake." She immediately regained a distant, not-quite there look as they kept walking. A silence dragged on between them as Blake and Jaune picked up that, just maybe, something might be wrong with Ruby.

"The stuff with your Uncle's pretty confusing, huh Ruby?" Jaune said out of the blue, stopping and looking at her. "Wanna talk about it?"

"It's… it's ok." Ruby said, wrinkling her brow as she looked at the ground and kept walking past Jaune. Jaune circled around her, stopping in front of her so short that Ruby almost bumped into him. Jaune held out his arms, and just stood there, staring at her. Ruby looked to the ground, then back up to Jaune, then took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I don't think it's ok, Ruby." Jaune said. He looked at Blake over Ruby's shoulder as she stood there awkwardly. He gave her a smile, and she walked forward, wrapping her arms around Ruby and Jaune for a group hug. "And that's ok, you know. That it's not ok."

"We're- I'm…. I mean…" Blake stuttered for a moment, then found her words. "We're here for you, Ruby. We're here for each other. We protect each other." She took in a deep breath, squeezing tighter around Ruby and Jaune. There was a silence, and when they finally broke after a few moments, Ruby was smiling with her eyes starting to water. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

"It's just… a lot to process." Ruby said, finally. "Uncle Qrow didn't just fight Shadows, but he had crazy powers like Jaune has?" She inhaled. "And not only that, but the guy giving Jaune powers wanted Qrow to kill Yang's mom?" She put her hands to the sides of her head, and looked up at the sky. "What even is this? It makes no sense!" She sighed heavily, looking at Jaune. "I'm worried about you too! What if these awesome Persona powers we're getting are really the work of some evil mastermind?"

"I don't think he's evil." Jaune said with a half-shrug. "He's only ever been nice to me. He seems really… smart. Like he's seen a lot of things." He tapped his chin. "I wish there were some way we could just find out what happened between Qrow and Ozpin. I don't think he's going to be available for questioning, though." He slumped his shoulders. "He didn't answer any of our questions before storming up to his room and slamming the door shut last night."

"He's probably still in a stupor right now." Blake said, scrunching up her face in thought. The trio all looked at each other and shrugged, then continued on their way back to the dorm. After about twenty or so steps, Blake stopped suddenly, looking at the two of them, then making eye contact with Jaune. "You could… just ask Ozpin?" She stated blatantly.

"Oh." Ruby said, eyes widening. "Oh!" She looked up at Jaune, smiling. "That's such a good idea! You can just go to the room and chit chat with him, right Jaune?"

"I… um…" Jaune felt very put on the spot. A million excuses ran through his head in that moment; what would he even say? What if Ozpin didn't want to tell the truth? Didn't this conversation prove Ozpin might not be able to be trusted? Or that he was dangerous? Then, he looked at Ruby's face and saw how happy the prospect made her. "Yeah." He said, straightening his back and looking Ruby straight in the eyes. "Yes, I can."

Jaune had to admit to himself, too, that he wanted answers. Ozpin had been nothing but straightforward to him up to this point; so maybe he'd be willing to give the answers they needed to make sense of this situation after all.

* * *

"Mister Arc." Glynda said with a smile, sitting on the edge of Ozpin's desk. "It's good to see you join us again."

"Hey Glynda, same here." Jaune said casually as he looked about the strange indigo hued classroom around him. The desks were, as always, occupied by a number of dolls. Weiss's head still sat facedown, and the room had shifted somewhat slightly to make room for a new desk at the very back of the class, away from the other occupied desks. This one held a doll of Qrow, one arm draped casually over the back of the seat with his left leg stretched out onto the desk in front of him. Jaune idly glanced over at his desk and realized there was no card.

"So I see you've made a new friend, Mister Arc."

Ozpin's voice echoed throughout the classroom. The strange tonal quality, the hypnotizing calmness, seemed almost eerie to Jaune. For the first time since coming to the Velvet Room, Jaune felt a sensation of something other than safety. He slowly turned around, waving a hand in the air at Ozpin, who sat with his fingers steepled in front of him, his eyes hidden behind the light reflecting on his glasses.

"H-hey Ozpin. Yeah, got us a new buddy, neat Persona powers… haven't established a social link or anything so um, should probably get on that. The whole 'we're stronger together' thing, it's pretty cool and all." He glanced around nervously, a slight bead of sweat forming at his brow. "So um, how are things?"

"You could cut to the chase, Mr. Arc." Ozpin said calmly as he glanced up at Glynda. He was showing small signs of amusement all over his face. "That would save Glynda having to watch this whole embarrassing display."

"I do, however, enjoy it so." Glynda said with a smirk as she adjusted her glasses.

"Haha.. ha… yeah…" Jaune coughed into his hand and played with the hem of his shirt for a moment, straightening himself up. "So… about the whole… um…" Jaune kept looking around nervously, stepping away from Qrow's desk and gesturing at him with both hands. "Qrow being a wild card… thing…"

"That's correct." Ozpin said, calmly. Glynda nodded beside him as he spoke. She slowly stepped away from the desk at the front of the class. As she did so, Jaune could see that there was text behind her. The word on the chalkboard read 'GUILT' in large, bold letters.

"You are not the first, Jaune. I suspect, in all things, that you shall not be the last." Ozpin slowly came to stand from his desk. As he did so, he grabbed at a cane that was leaning up against the wall behind him. He took a step forward, using the cane, which elicited a staccato *tick* every time it hit the ground in front of his foot.

"We are at a war, of sorts, young man." Ozpin said, finally, looking up over his glasses. "I must admit, I was only partly honest with you." He gestured to the room around himself. "This place is… special. It can only be entered by those bound by a contract. It is true that my goal here is to shape your narrative; to help you shape your story to a full one, a strong one. A story worth telling."

"Did… did you say the same thing to Qrow?" Jaune said, looking back at the doll. His face scrunched up with confusion as he remembered Qrow's conversation from the night before. _He wanted me to kill my sister._ Jaune played that phrase over in his head as he turned his gaze back to Ozpin.

"I said something… similar." Ozpin admitted, calmly. He took a few more steps away from his desk, glancing toward the door that left the Velvet Room. "I said a great many things, you see. Qrow had a great deal of promise in him." Ozpin lifted his cane and tapped Pyrrha's desk lightly. "Like you, he had the power of the Wild Card." He returned the cane to the floor. "Unlike you, however, he could not share this power with others. Instead, he had the ability to use those multiple personas himself." Ozpin turned to Glynda and nodded.

"It was a strange circumstance, you see." Glynda said as she walked over to the blackboard and leaned against it. "One Wild Card is rare enough, but… in this case, we had two."

"Wait… Qrow wasn't the only one at the time?" Jaune said, raising his eyebrow at Glynda. "There was another Wild Card with him?"

"That's correct." Ozpin said. He took a few steps toward Jaune and the desk Qrow sat at. As he landed his final step, the cane tapped the ground and echoed for a moment in the silence that followed. "The young man was accompanied by his sister. Ms. Branwen also possessed this power; though you may know her as Raven."

"Wait, wait." Jaune held his hands in front of him, shaking his palms as he shook his head back and forth. "If Qrow's sister was a Wild Card, why did you tell Qrow to kill her?" Jaune looked up at Ozpin, whose stare remained as calm and careful as ever. "Wouldn't two Wild Cards make it even easier to explore Muspell?"

"It did." Glynda stated from across the room. "Very, very briefly." She leaned her head back to the wall. "However, as my Master said, we are at something of a war." Glynda straightened herself from the wall, letting out a deep sigh. "And in this case, Ms. Bronwen chose the… other side."

"You mean she teamed up with the Shadows?" Jaune said scratching the back of his head. "Aren't they just crazy monsters? How could anyone try to team up with them?"

"Not quite." Ozpin glanced at Qrow's doll, and then at the dolls around him. "The shadows are the allies of no one. They're loose, wild emotions that pray on the weak of heart." Ozpin sighed, glancing up at the ceiling. "Our enemy is a little more… complex. People who think that saving the world takes a much more callous heart than the one that beats inside your chest."

"So they're… other people?" Jaune said, looking around the Velvet Room. "Do they have a place like this?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't possibly give you the specifics, merely the name." Ozpin adjusted his glasses for a moment. He walked back to his desk, set his cane back against the wall, and sat back down. He once again sat his face behind his steepled fingers. The light once again obscured his eyes behind his glasses. "Salem." He said, finally. "We call them Salem."

* * *

"What a rush!" Adam stood with a wide-eyed smile, his pupils strangely large as the small group of shadows disappeared in front of him. They were in a place that seemed to be a large, frigid tundra. Ice blasted by them in sheets, but none of them seemed to notice the cold. Next to him stood Cinder and the rest of her group, looking on as the black particles vanished into the sky. Cinder started to clap, which was followed by her dark skinned, green haired friend and then the pale silver haired young man. Adam raised his hands to the applause. "This is what I'm talking about! I'd like to see Blake try to mess with me now!"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll get the chance soon enough." Cinder said with a smile. She turned to the silver haired man. "Mercury." He stood slightly straighter as she said his name. "You should let our teacher know that we've found something… quite interesting."

"That… won't be necessary." The green haired girl said with a hand to her head. "I can feel her. She's here." As soon as she finished speaking, another clap began from outside of view.

Adam's eyes shot around, and his eyes began to dilate further as his body began to shake – but Cinder's hand on his shoulder calmed him. "Don't worry." She said, calmly. "This one's a friend."

"Not bad, kid." A woman's harsh, commanding voice echoed throughout the tundra, followed by her appearance from out of the white blasting snow. As she stepped into view, her applause ceased. The woman's long, jet black hair fell in wild streaks down her back to the back of her knees. She wore black tights that stretched up to her maroon colored jacket. "You've got promise."

"You haven't seen half of what I can do with this." Adam said, his eyes still eerily wide and his smile still going from ear to ear. "This stuff is great!" He held an empty syringe in his visibly shaking hand. "I'll show everyone! No one's going to question what I can do again!"

"Patience." The newcomer nodded cautiously. "But don't worry, the time will come. Soon, I think." She looked around the tundra, back at the small, barely visible road that lead through the snow to where they were now. Far, in the distance, was a large, white tower that had a small door at the bottom of it, featuring the roman numeral four. "We just have to wait for them to catch up."


	26. Chapter 25

Friday, May 12th

"Salem." Qrow said casually as he leaned back in his chair, gesturing to the gathered members of the Shadow Hunters. They were seated once more in the small gathering space on the first floor of the dorms. Ruby sat immediately beside Qrow, then Weiss sat next to Blake, while Jaune and Pyrrha occupied a couch together.

"That's what Ozpin called them too." Jaune said. "He said your sister joined… the bad guys?" Jaune's brow furrowed as he spoke, and he leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs, hands cradled together. "He said they're not with the Shadows, just…" he looked around the room, making brief eye contact with all of his teammates. "Just against us."

"Against us?" Weiss raised her brow and voice at the same time. "Why would anyone want to stop us from defeating Shadows?" She crossed her arms for a brief second, then immediately threw them into the air. "They hurt people, for crying out loud!"

"Precisely." Qrow said calmly. "And hurting people ain't exactly something that Salem's against." Qrow looked around the room, seeing nothing but innocent eyes staring at him. Eyes that were about to lose a hell of a lot of that innocence if he continued speaking. "That's probably something for another time though, it's late."

He moved to stand, and immediately found Ruby's hand wrapped around his wrist. She stared up at him, her silver eyes pleading. "Uncle Qrow… we're not kids anymore." She said calmly. He moved to pull away, but her arm stayed gripped on his, steadfast. "You can tell us everything." She looked around, gesturing to Pyrrha, Jaune, Weiss, and Blake in turn. "We're all putting ourselves on the line here." She stood up, keeping eye contact with Qrow the whole time. "Yang too. We deserve to know what for."

Qrow stared at his niece as a very pregnant silence filled the room. No one spoke. No one shuffled. All eyes centered solely on Qrow and Ruby. Qrow took a look around the room one more time, and noticed that, sure, they were innocent… but they were also passionate. They had a fire in their eyes… the same fire he had. The same fire they all had…

"You win." Qrow sighed, finally. Everyone let out a sigh as Ruby let go of Qrow's hand and plopped back down into her seat. Qrow gently eased himself back to his seating position, shuffling momentarily to find a comfortable spot. "You're just like your mom, ya know." Qrow said calmly. "Keepin' me on my toes."

Jaune noticed Ruby's face show a brief bit of glowing pride.

"Guess there isn't gonna be a 'see ya next time' for this one." Qrow pulled a flask out of his shirt pocket and took a very long drag from it. Everyone was keenly aware of the sound of him gulping the stuff down for seconds, before he let out a deep sigh and returned the flask to its hiding place. "I'll answer all the questions. I'll do it straightforward. No more holdin' back. Where do we start…"

* * *

"Qrow, look there."

The speaker was a pale woman with long, luscious black hair that fell in waves behind her. Her crimson tinted eyes matched Qrow's own. Her blood-red cardigan was pinched tightly around her torso. The black leather holster on her hip held an Evoker, the tell-tale sign of a persona user. On the opposite end was a slender black sheath, presumably holding a slim sword.

She was leaning back against an alleyway in the darkness of the city. Her finger pointed to the sky as the world transformed before the pair's eyes. Everything in sight turned a sickly shade of green, and the brick wall beside her started to drain a viscous red liquid onto the street. Qrow remembered thinking it looked like the world itself was, somehow, wounded.

" Same old same old." Qrow said calmly as he stepped out of the alleyway. As a teenager, his hair was extremely clean, cut short. He wore his Beacon uniform with the blazer slightly open, revealing a vest underneath. Every part of him looked painstakingly put together as his loafers tip-tapped onto the asphalt. He held his evoker in his hand, at the ready.

"They seem to be getting closer together." The woman said with slightly pursed lips. "The bigger shadows, I mean." The two stepped out of the alleyway, both glancing throughout the dark street with practiced precision. "I wonder if it's supposed to be heralding something?"

"Don't be crazy, Raven." Qrow lowered his Evoker after the cursory glance down the deserted road revealed nothing. "That's the kind of crap I'd expect from Tai." As his gaze returned back to Raven, he saw a Beowulf shadow emerging from an alleyway. His Evoker immediately came to his chin and he fired.

"Huginn!" His Persona appeared once more, in all of its opalescence. The black hooded figure atop the raven fired its arrow at the Beowulf, causing it to explode into particles of black dust.

"Guess the party's started." Raven said with a small smirk as she and her brother turned, seeing a small horde of Beowulf shadows approaching them. "Guess I'll get in on the fun too. Muninn!"

Raven's persona manifested behind her, a swirling torrent of feathers coming to form a single humanoid body. Like Huginn, Muninn at first appeared to be giant gem-carved raven, save where Qrow's glistened in crushed opalescent blues and greens, Muninn burned as a bright multi-faceted ruby that seemed carved to perfection. Small flames seemed to dance inside its body as moonlight shimmered across its surface. Once again a humanoid sat atop it, cloaked in blackness, but Muninn bore two large blades, one in each hand. Muninn crossed its blades in front of itself, and a gargantuan circle of darkness appeared underneath the approaching horde of shadows. The circle spun on itself, creating a giant eye on the ground. The eye blinked. Without any trace that they had ever been there, the Beowulf shadows were gone.

"That takes care of that." Raven said calmly as Muninn vanished. She clapped her hands together as though cleaning them of dirt, and calmly meandered forward.

"Showoff." Qrow said politely as he came up behind her. "Guess that just leaves the big guy, wherever he is."

"I suspect he's… g…hr…." Raven stopped mid-sentence, hitting the ground hard with one knee as she inadvertently knelt to the ground, gripping her head in both hands. Qrow immediately rushed to her side, hands on her shoulders. There was a long silence filled only by Raven's deep breathing. Qrow remained calm next to her, closing his eyes and keeping his hands there to support his sister as she let out small, labored gasps of pain.

After several seconds of Raven kneeling, her breathing normalized. She stood – awkwardly at first, but then brushed off her brother's hands as she came to her full height. She looked at him. "I'm good. It's ok."

"They're getting worse." Qrow stated, bluntly. Raven glanced away for just a telling second, and he knew that he was right. "If you need to stop, that's fine. We don't have to go in every ti-"

"I'm not going back." Raven set her shoulders, and simply kept walking forward. "It's going to take more than a little headache to stop me from finishing this mess."

"But Raven…"

"That's final." Raven didn't even turn to look at Qrow, who looked at her pleadingly, and he knew that she was right. There was no point in arguing with her once she'd made up her mind. She was going to see this through, no matter what. Even if it killed her.

* * *

"What was wrong with her?" Jaune interrupted, looking around the room. Everyone was so entranced in Qrow's story that they had to rub their eyes briefly, barely aware of their surroundings. Ruby glanced at Qrow and then back at everyone else.

"She was sick." Ruby said, finally. "Dad told me. She would get terrible headaches, ever since she was little." Ruby rubbed her hands together. "He was really glad when Yang didn't get them too."

"Do migraines run in your family?" Pyrrha asked, levelling her eyes at Qrow. "You've never mentioned them."

"I don't get'em as bad as Raven did." Qrow said, calmly. "But it's a pretty normal side effect for us… ain't exactly genetic, though." He reached his hand up to his head, massaging his temple. "Raven and I aren't… well…" he sighed. "We aren't exactly like other Persona users." He shuffled in his seat and messed with his holster for a moment. Then, he held his evoker out, playing with it idly in his hand as he spoke.

"Truth is, don't even need this." He put it on the coffee table that sat in the middle of the group. "Could summon Huginn all by myself, if I thought about it hard enough… hurts like hell, though." He added. He had a captive audience at this point. Everyone stared at him as though he could do it on the spot. "Only during the Grimm Hour, mind you." He hastily tacked on.

"How is that possible?" Weiss said, holding her own Evoker in front of her. "Even Blake and Jaune needed someone else's evoker to summon their personas."

"'cus their Personas came from within them. They came willingly." He gestured idly with his hand to Blake and Jaune, who glanced at each other. "They found that strength within, overcame their personal struggles, all that soft and mushy crap about being stronger for it."

Pyrrha crossed her legs and leaned back in her seat, eyes never leaving Qrow. "In such a case… something different happened for you."

"That's a good way to put it. Different. Like that word." Qrow said, hunching his shoulders and leaning into himself. "Raven and me… we didn't quite get ours like that. For us… our Personas… they were forced out of us."

There was a silence, and Ruby gasped. They all looked at him with confusion and worry.

"Which means… what, exactly?" Jaune said, looking at him. "If they're a part of us, how do you force it out?"

"Medicine." Qrow said, calmly. "Well, one particular kind of drug." He held his forefinger and thumb out, stretching them a bit. "We got it from your family, back when we didn't know what we were doin'." Qrow said, calmly. "Guy who invited us on, representing the Schnee company, said somethin' bout our DNA made us a good match for a miracle drug. Somethin' that would make us strong. Make us able to do amazing things."

"The Schnee company… experimented on you?" Blake said, casting a worried glance at Weiss, whose face had become downcast. "With some crazy… medicine?"

"Experimented is a bad way to put it." Qrow stated simply. "We went willingly. Thought it was the coolest idea in the world. Become awesome, amazing fighters with just one little vial. Worked, too, just… there were side effects." He sighed once more, shuffling awkwardly in his seat as he leaned back in his chair, becoming less tense and resuming his casual pose. "Raven was never the same afterward. Guess it was too good to be true, though."

"Did it… have a name?" Jaune said, looking around the room. There was another pause as every eye fell on him. "The drug, I mean."

"Dust." Weiss's face was grim as it came up to meet the others. "We call it dust."


	27. Chapter 26

A grim quiet filled the room after Weiss spoke. Jaune shifted awkwardly in his seat. Blake seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with anyone. Pyrrha's shoulders tensed slightly, but she retained her composed posture and kept looking at Weiss. Qrow scratched the back of his neck nervously. In the silence, Weiss cleared her throat.

"We developed it." She continued. "My family… we're not entirely certain but…" she seemed smaller to Jaune in that moment as she curled in on herself. Her hands wrapped around her stomach, and she kept her eyes glued to the floor. "My mother was lost to the Grimm Hour." She said after a long silence. "I don't know precisely how it started, but my father became determined to put a stop to it at any cost."

She let out a deep breath and a silence filled the room once more. Jaune's mind raced as he tried to think of something to say to fill the void. Nothing came to him. Some small, observant part of him noted how weird the whole situation was; how in a world where the Grimm Hour, Shadows, and Personas existed, there were still things to be surprised about.

"So he created Dust." Pyrrha offered, politely. "To combat Shadows."

"Right." Weiss nodded, looking at Pyrrha. Pyrrha gave a reassuring nod, keeping eye contact with Weiss, encouraging her to continue. "I don't know how he knew about Personas in the first place, or what really happened with my mother, but… he stopped at nothing. He funded so much money into the project that he began cutting costs in other places…" Weiss locked eyes with Blake for a brief moment. "Places like the warehouses and storefronts in Menagerie."

"So this dorm, and you coming here?" Blake spoke up, a concerned look on her face. "He bought this dorm so you could investigate Muspell?"

"In a sense." Qrow chimed in. "It was for my generation originally. Me, my sister, Tai, Summer. The plan wasn't for Weiss to come, but…"

"My sister." Weiss said. "She didn't want anything to do with it. She joined the military… she avoided all of this." Weiss looked up at each of the gathered Shadow Hunters. She looked at Pyrrha, then Ruby, then Jaune. "I'm sorry." She glanced back at the ground. "I should've said something sooner about all of this. I… I don't feel like much of a team leader, having kept this from you." Her eyes started to water. She let out a few sputtering starts to words, then held her hands to her face, and sobbed into them.

"I'm glad it's you." Jaune stood, facing Weiss. Her gaze left the floor and met his, her cheeks still wet. Jaune could see the regret in her face, the pained expression of someone forced to spill a harsh truth. The fear of the consequences of finally being honest. "I'm glad it's you whose with us, and not your sister. I'm glad you're the one whose telling us, and I'm glad you're telling us now. And… and I'm glad you're our team leader." Jaune stopped, and looked at the gathered group for support.

"Me too." Blake's voice was barely a whisper as she spoke, but she repeated herself louder, stronger. "Me too. It's like I said, Weiss. You're not your family. You're not responsible for their mistakes." Blake smiled at Weiss.

"If anything, you're doing the most to stop it." Pyrrha added. "And we're all here to support you." Pyrrha reached her hand over, and Weiss grabbed it, holding onto it. Pyrrha then stood, and suddenly yanked Weiss out of her seat, pulling her close. Pyrrha gently patted the back of Weiss's hair as Weiss clung tight around her friend, putting her head into Pyrrha's shoulder.

"Thank you." Weiss said, reaching up and wiping a tear from her eye. "I'm… I'm just so sorry. I feel like I'm partly responsible for this. I know it's crazy… I haven't actually done anything wrong but… I can't help but feel some of the burden." She smiled an earnest smile at Pyrrha, letting out a small, choked laugh. "But it's thanks to the friends like you… that I feel like we can bear it."

"Maybe we should call it a night." Qrow said, calmly. "I can always finish the story of me and Raven later."

"That's probably for the best." Ruby said, nodding. "But first… group hug!" She jumped up and rushed to Weiss and Pyrrha, wrapping her arms around them. Pyrrha let out a gasp and a chuckle as Ruby's arms wrapped around them. Blake stood slowly next, joining in. Then Jaune. Qrow stood there awkwardly for a moment, looking around the room, before Jaune's arm shot out of the huddle and pulled him into the group.

Weiss's sobs turned into a contagious laughter that spread throughout the group. Jaune couldn't help but smile his widest smile, but in the back of his mind, a familiar voice returned.

 _Thou art I…  
And I am thou…  
Thy story progresses to the next chapter…  
Thy Personas of the Fool Arcana shall be stronger…_

He smiled to himself, but then the pause was broken as the voice continued. As everyone laughed around him, Jaune's face briefly turned to stone.

 _And now I shall give thee a warning…  
Thy story has progressed much further…  
Thy chapters and pages have turned, thy verses are many…  
As thy story progresses, an ending approaches…_

* * *

Wednesday, May 17th

"Weiss!"

"Ruby!"

The two girls nodded to each other as they spun in the train-like battlefield of Muspell. Weiss drove her rapier into one of the robot-soldier-esque shadows, causing it to vanish. At the same time, Ruby's Unicorn Persona drove its horn into another, vanquishing it on the spot. At the same time, Blake's humanoid cat persona, Ose, carved its blade into yet another. They rushed down the car of the train, taking shadows on one at a time at a breakneck pace.

"Pyrrha!"

"Qrow!"

The two Shadow Hunters spun around each other, Pyrrha summoning Sarasvati to encase an encroaching group of shadows in ice. As they sat there frozen, Qrow summoned Huginn, who fired an arrow that pierced the shadows and caused them to shatter into broken shards of ice across the oddly patterned floor before vanishing into black smoke.

"I feel like we're getting close to the end." Jaune's voice echoed in everyone's head from the back of the car as he stood with his persona, Hodr, floating above him. Hodr's helm sat over his eyes, and Jaune could see the world in strange hues of blue. In the back of his mind, Jaune could sense that the shadow beyond this point was strong; very, very strong. Perhaps stronger than anything they had faced thus far. "There's something big ahead, but we're all in really good shape. I think we can tackle it."

The hunters all nodded to each other as they approached the end of the train car. Qrow took point, looking back at the gathered students. Each of them bore their weapon, a serious yet eager look on their face. They all nodded to him in turn. He hit the switch on the door, and it slammed wide open with a mechanical whirr.

The train car door opened into a strange, wide open space that looked like… a dollhouse? There seemed to be lace patterned around the walls of a white room with a stainless white carpet. The transformation was immediately jarring, and all of the gathered hunters lost their footing for a moment as they took in their new surroundings. The lace curtain patterns on the wall fell in shades of brown, pink, and white.

Jaune immediately noticed that he couldn't see an exit. "This isn't super creepy at all." He said in a completely believable manner. Everyone tensed, looking around themselves for signs of the enemy. "Let me summon Hodr, see if we can spot this enemy…" he said, reaching for his evoker. Before he even pulled the trigger, the sound of shattered glass filled the chamber.

The center of the room seemed to distort strangely, like looking through stained glass. Then small black particles started to form, gathering and creating a vaguely humanoid shape. As the blob became more and more defined, there was a 'pop' as it expanded into existence. There, in front of the group, stood a large doll of a stuffed donkey wearing a bowler hat and a white suit. It held a cane in one hand, and had black buttons for eyes against its gray fluffy exterior.

Everyone stopped in their tracks, looking at each other, unsure of whether to be frightened or to laugh. Meanwhile, the shadow toy waved its cane experimentally. Qrow looked at Ruby, and the two looked at the Shadow. The shadow donkey, in waving its cane, lost its balance and fell flat on its face. "Phhhhhht!" Ruby let out a loud chuckle, nearly doubling over with laughter. "It's…. the boss is… a stuffed animal?!"

"W-wait…" Qrow said, looking around at the surrounding room. "That seems to easy… it ain't ever this easy…" As he spoke, everyone else tensed up, looking around the room nervously. The shadow donkey ambled itself to its feet, picked up its dropped cane, and readjusted its bowler hat atop its head. It ran toward the shadow hunters, swinging its cane wildly.

Qrow parried the attack with his blade, spinning around the back of the donkey shadow. He stuck his blade deep into the stuffed animal's back, swung his weapon overhead with the donkey attached, and slammed the creature into the ground on its face with a harsh thud. As the shadow hit the ground, it let out a small squeaking noise, like that of a dog's chew toy.

At the sound of the squeak, the shadow started to vanish into thin air. It disappeared into a black smoke, much like every shadow before it. As it did so, the lacey curtains surrounding the room started to shift… and part of the curtain stepped out into the center of the room, revealing its true form. There, in front of the shadow hunters, in this strange room, stood a humanoid-looking shadow that stood fifteen feet tall. Its body was shaped like a woman wearing a large, fluffy dress, and its body seemed to be painted in shades of brown, pink, and white that matched the curtains of the room around it.

The shadow held out its hand, and what appeared to Jaune to be a long oddly shaped spear extended from it. Then the shadow snapped the spear, and revealed it to be a parasol, patterned in the same colors as the shadow and the surrounding wall. The shadow spun the parasol in a wide arc around itself, then… vanished.

"Where did it go?" Ruby called, looking around frantically. As she did so she backed into the curtain laced wall, scythe at the ready. "Do you think it blended in with the-oof!"

The parasol collided with Ruby's stomach in a wide baseball swing. Ruby went flying across the room as the shadow manifested immediately behind her, appearing seemingly out of thin air. She skidded to a stop some ten feet away, drawing gasps from the crowd. Qrow had already pulled out his evoker, summoning Huginn. Huginn's arrow let fly, striking the exact spot where the shadow was standing, and collided with… absolutely nothing.

"Well." Qrow said grimly, "that complicates things."

"I've got you Ruby!" Blake called, running to Ruby's side. She summoned Freya en route, and small sparkles of light washed over Ruby's form.

Ruby stood, gripping her scythe for support briefly. "Ow."

"Anyone got a plan?" Weiss had her rapier held out, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"Perhaps we should avoid the walls." Pyrrha said, as the group gathered in the center of the room, backs to each other, everyone gripping their weapons and facing the outward walls around them. No sooner had Pyrrha said that than the room began to feel as though it were shaking, shifting. The shadow stepped out of the curtains once more, parasol in hand, a strange smile on its face. On its mostly white face, it wore a mask that was split down the middle; half pink, half a chocolate brown. The mask had a roman numeral X across the front of it. The shadow spun its parasol lazily behind its back, gently stepping toward the gathered hunters.

"This could get tough." Jaune cried out, evoker to his chin. "Get ready!"


	28. Chapter 27

-THUD-

Qrow flew hard across the room, landing and skidding on his back as the parasol-wielding shadow slammed into him from out of the strange curtain-walls covering the room. The shadow hunters kept trying to pin it down, but every time they got close, the Shadow would simply vanish and appear elsewhere, striking another unsuspecting member of the party. Jaune was trying to call out to the group, trying to guide them, but even with Hodr he was just as blind as any of them.

"We have to try something different." Ruby said, picking herself up off of the floor. She put the evoker to her head as she got up, pulling the trigger an calling Pixie to her side. Pixie healed her wounds, and Jaune could see that she was running out of energy.

"Feels like we're runnin' out of luck." Qrow picked himself up off of the ground, with Pyrrha helping him stand. "If we keep this up, she'll beat the snot out of us in no time."

As Qrow said that, the strange shadow spun its dress in a circle, and more donkey-esque doll shadows stepped out from the hem of her skirt. They all seemed to chuckle in their own strange way, waving their canes. Jaune counted five of them, all walking towards the gathered Persona users. Jaune glanced through Hodr, seeing the 'Cruel Dum Dum' stuffed animal shadows were weak to… just about everything.

As the Dum Dums approached, Jaune noticed that the larger shadow – the Neo Illusionist sat perfectly still, as though waiting for an action on the part of the Shadow Hunters. Ruby rushed forward, striking one of the Dum Dums with a sweeping sword strike with Tyr. At the same time, Pyrrha used Baldr to ensnare another Dum Dum in a halo of light, causing the Dum Dum to vanish.

Almost instantly, nearly too fast for Jaune to see, Pyrrha and Ruby were struck with the deadly parasol of the giant shadow. Her attacks came swiftly and mercilessly, slamming Pyrrha and Ruby back against the walls of the strange train compartment. Pyrrha grasped her arm as she stood, clearly having slammed against it as she was knocked against the wall. She looked around nervously as Blake stepped forward, summoning Freya to heal Pyrrha's wounds.

Weiss ran at two of the Dum Dums, spinning and striking one with her blade and in another swift motion summoning Idunne to strike the other with a well-placed Bufu blast. Both Dum Dums vanished, and Jaune looked one as Weiss was immediately slammed up into the air by a swift parasol strike, then slammed back into the ground with another vicious attack – but this time Jaune was ready for it. As he watched the creature pummel his friend, Jaune saw what he needed.

For a split second, Jaune saw that the Neo Illusionist stood where it was… and another shadow super-imposed itself over her form. The 'Neo Vengeance' looked almost like an after-image of the Neo Illusionist, striking out against Weiss before nearly disappearing, only to briefly reappear as it struck Weiss the second time, then vanishing again in an instant. That's when Jaune realized what was happening – the reason they couldn't block any of the Shadow's attacks was because they were looking at the wrong place.

The enemy they thought they were fighting wasn't their enemy at all. It was a fake.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out. Pyrrha stood, looking between him and the giant shadow looming over the room. It had spun, releasing more Dum Dums that ambled awkwardly across the room, stumbling over themselves. Pyrrha raised her spear, but before she could strike the nearest Dum Dum, she heard Jaune's voice in her head. "Wait!"

Pyrrha slowed herself, holding her spear and shield at the ready. She watched the Dum Dum approaching with a careful eye, but did as she was told. Jaune nodded to Pyrrha. "Qrow, I want you to hit the donkey that's closest to Pyrrha. Pyrrha, I want you to immediately attack after him, right where the donkey shadow was." Qrow and Pyrrha looked at one another and nodded, readying their weapons.

"Now!" Jaune called. Qrow came in with a sweep at the Dum Dum's midsection, destroying the creature in one quick swipe. A split second later, Pyrrha pulled the trigger on her evoker, summoning Baldr to perform a shield charge right where Qrow's blade had just been. As she did so, Neo Vengeance appeared, parasol ready to come down on Qrow as Baldr's shield rushed forward, catching the giant shadow off guard. Neo Vengeance was flung across the room – flying straight through the lazily spinning illusionary version of herself, causing it to disperse. The fake version of Neo shattered like glass, vanishing into nothingness before Neo Vengeance stood, adjusting herself.

"Split into teams!" Jaune cried into everyone's minds. "As soon as one person eliminates one of the donkey shadows, someone else be ready to strike!" Ruby and Weiss nodded to one another, as did Qrow and Pyrrha. With a battle plan in motion, they realized what they needed to do. The Neo Vengeance shadow vanished once more into the wall, leaving the Neo Illusionist standing there, spinning the hem of her dress. As she spun, more Dum Dums appeared, and the Shadow Hunters went into action.

A moment after Pyrrha struck the nearest Dum Dum, Qrow's Huginn was there, striking Neo Vengeance with a flurry of black arrows, pummeling her into the ground. Before she could stand, Ruby eliminated the Dum Dum closest to her. Neo Vengeance vanished from her position on the ground, reappearing right in front of Ruby with her parasol ready to strike – only for Idunne to send Neo into the air with a vicious blizzard of icicles. As Neo went air born, Blake pulled her trigger and summoned Ose. The feline Persona jumped forward, giving Neo three swift slashes from its twin katanas before vanishing.

blizzard of icicles. As Neo went air born, Blake pulled her trigger and summoned Ose. The feline Persona jumped forward, giving Neo three swift slashes from its twin katanas before vanishing.

As Neo collided with the wall, she and the remaining Dum Dums vanished again, and the process began to repeat itself. Jaune could feel the adrenaline pumping in his system as Neo appeared once more, spinning her dress to summon more of the stuffed animal shadows. Pyrrha rushed forward, spear stabbing directly into one of the Dum Dums. As she did so, the other Neo appeared again, and Qrow struck at it with a full-force strike…

Only to completely whiff. Qrow seemed to float in the air in slow-motion in front of Jaune as the realization struck his face. Qrow's eyes went wide, as did Jaune's.

That's when Jaune realized his mistake – this time, the name next to the shadow standing in the background wasn't 'Neo Illusionist', it was 'Neo Vengeance'. The shadow that appeared in response to the death of the Dum Dum – the one Qrow struck with his blade – was the 'Neo Illusionist'. As Qrow's strange scythe struck thin air, the imposing Neo Vengeance standing over the party pulled a blade out of the hilt of its umbrella. A wicked smile crossed its face as it dove forward in that instant, driving its blade directly into the unsuspecting Qrow's chest.

Qrow let out a gasping cough as the blade dove into him. The large shadow pulled the blade back, spinning elegantly as it snapped the sword back into its umbrella sheath. Qrow stood there for a moment, looking down at his own body… then collapsed onto the floor. Jaune watched as the small bar denoting his remaining life force immediately depleted to a dark gray, showing a small value of 'zero'.

Pyrrha's mouth hung open as she saw Qrow impaled right in front of her. Her eyes shot up at the shadow in front of them, then over at Jaune, then over at Ruby. Jaune could see her trying to ignore the emotion and make the tactical decision in the moment. She shook her head and readied her spear and shield once more.

"Q-Qrow!" Jaune called out to the rest of the party. It was half of a scream of warning, half of a sob. He wondered if the others could tell. He locked eyes with Ruby in that tense moment, and he could tell that she knew what was going through his mind. Ruby's silver eyes left Jaune's face, looked down at Qrow's body, then looked back up at Jaune.

"U-uncle Qrow?" Ruby said, scythe falling to the floor. She ran over to him, and the rest of the Shadow Hunters rushed forward as well, weapons drawn and ready to form a perimeter around Ruby and her uncle. She shook his body, then reached down for the evoker at her hip. She pulled the trigger, and Pixie floated over Qrow's body. Pixie spun in a circle, dropping the blue healing pixie dust energy over Qrow… and nothing happened. Jaune watched as the small meter representing his life force remained at a static zero, while Ruby's spiritual energy decreased.

"Uncle Qrow?! Get up!" Ruby shouted, pulling the trigger again. Pixie appeared once more, and the blue energy fell over Qrow's body once more. And once again, Jaune watched it have no effect at all.

The Dum Dum shadows were approaching the group now, and everyone turned and looked to Jaune, unsure of what to do. Jaune just kept staring at Qrow's body, and his mind went completely blank. He briefly made eye contact with Blake, and Blake could see the hopelessness in Jaune's eyes.

"We have to do something!" Weiss called, her evoker ready. Before she could pull the trigger, Pyrrha's hand shot out and grabbed Weiss's wrist.

"Don't. If you attack one of the donkey shadows again, she could stab one of us next time." Pyrrha used her shield to deflect one of the incoming cane swings, pushing the shadow harmlessly over. The shadow rolled over itself on the ground, then stood back up with the help of its cane. It seemed unhurt by the action, and was ready to swing again.

"If we can't attack, what do we do?" Blake called out to the others. She held the sticks in an X formation in front of her, blocking an incoming cane strike and pushing back, causing the shadow to back up a few feet before it simply swung again. All the while, Ruby sat staring at her uncle Qrow.

"U—uncle… Uncle Qrow…" She shook him, tears forming in her silver eyes as she looked down at her uncle's face. "Uncle Qrow!" She kept shaking him, as the Dum Dums closed in on the remaining group of hunters. Jeanne sat at the back of the room, watching this all unfold in front of him, completely paralyzed as he watched Ruby's spiritual energy go to zero as she tried to use Pixie to heal him one last time…

"I'm sorry, Ruby… I'm so sorry…" Jeanne said quietly through his persona. It echoed in everyone's mind for a moment, and the hopelessness of their situation surrounded them. Ruby closed her eyes hugged her uncle's body deeply. She muttered something that no one could hear.

"It's not your fault." She said, as gently put Qrow's body down and stood up. She looked around at all of her friends trying to push off the Dum Dums without harming them. "It's not your fault, Jaune." Ruby stared straight into Jaune's eyes. Ruby looked over at the giant Neo shadow standing in the corner, holding her parasol over her shoulder as though nothing had happened. "It's hers." Ruby reached down at her side and grabbed her evoker. "And I'm…" Ruby pulled the trigger, waves of blue energy rushing off of her. Jaune saw her spiritual energy level go from zero to 100 in a split second. As the blue fog started to rise around Ruby's form, Jaune could barely make out the figure of Tyr coming into being.

As Tyr formed, however, his body began to convulse where it stood. Tyr's bright red, billowing cloak wrapped tightly around him, creating a cocoon of red floating in the air above Ruby. The red cocoon grew in size, then shrank, then grew once more to something far larger than Tyr. The shape inside no longer seemed humanoid, seeming like a wild animal trying to fight its way out of its cloak prison. Suddenly, claw marks appeared on the cocoon from the inside, and large vicious paws forced their way out. One strike – then two – then three, and the cloak fell to shreds around the remaining creature.

Now, floating behind Ruby, stood a gargantuan wolf that, on all fours, was as large as the shadow facing her down. The remains of the cloak it shredded itself out of lay across its back in a half-cape, and giant chains made of gold wrapped themselves around the creature's neck and right arm. It opened its maw and a large tongue dripped out, and the wolf let out a howl that shook the very room around the shadow hunters.

Ruby shouted with the creature until the howling stopped, a scream full of rage and sorrow as tears streamed relentlessly down her bright red face. She was shaking where she stood as she pointed a hand at the giant parasol-wielding enemy that had just ended her uncle. "I'm gonna make you pay!"


	29. Chapter 28

Jaune watched in awe as Ruby's new persona came to life behind her. His mind raced as he wondered how that could even happen… one persona turning into another? Was that possible? He didn't have much time to ponder as Ruby flew into action, blindly charging ahead of the rest of the group with her new Persona in tow. Whereas Tyr made Ruby the fastest member of the Shadow Hunters, the speed her new persona gave her was absolutely blinding.

Ruby broke through the support group of hunters that surrounded her and her uncle's body like a bolt of lightning out of the sky. She collided with the first shadow, and Jaune realized she wasn't holding her scythe – she had picked up Qrow's, and was using it to deftly bisect the nearest Dum Dum so quickly that Jaune didn't actually notice he had been cut until he fell to pieces. As the Dum Dum fell, predictably the Neo appeared above Ruby – this time trying to pull the same trick it had on Qrow.

Jaune shouted into Ruby's mind through Hodr. "Watch out Ruby, it's another trick!"

If Ruby heard Jaune he didn't know, but she reacted as though she knew what the illusionary shadow was up to. She completely ignored the Neo that was trying to strike her in response to killing the Dum Dum, and went straight for the Neo that resided casually in the corner waiting for its turn to strike. It was caught completely off-guard by Ruby's blinding speed as she appeared behind the shadow, striking it from the back with Qrow's scythe. As her blade cut through it, it tried to vanish – but didn't get a chance before Ruby pulled the trigger on her evoker.

The giant wolf appeared again, this time bringing the chain-wrapped right arm down onto the shadow like a hammer. There was a loud THUD as the shadow struck the ground. It scrambled to stand, but Ruby was already pulling the trigger on her evoker again. As the sound of the gunshot permeated the room, a tornado of wind erupted from beneath the shadow, knocking it into the air with so much force that it collided with the ceiling a split moment later.

As the brown, pink, and white shadow fell from the sky, Ruby was already standing underneath it with her evoker beside her head. She pulled the trigger again. The shadow had apparently learned to fear this action, as it did its best to shield itself with its arms in front of its head. Ruby's new persona manifested again, and this time the massive gust of wind appeared under Ruby – the same way it had when Jaune first saw her use Tyr to destroy the bird-like shadow on the night they met.

Ruby shot into the air like a bullet, this time accompanied by her wolf persona. She brought Qrow's scythe to bear, bringing it through the Neo shadow's midsection. At the same time, her wolf persona crossed the other side, cutting through the opposite end with its massive claws. Both Ruby and her new Persona went past the shadow toward the ceiling as the shadow fell to the ground – Jaune could tell, now, that the shadow was nearing its end.

Ruby must've noticed too, somehow. As she and her wolf persona reached the ceiling, Ruby pulled the trigger yet again on her evoker. Now, the gust of wind came from the ceiling – propelling Ruby back to toward the floor… and the weakened, prone shadow. Ruby and her wolf both struck the back of the shadow hard only half a second after its initial collision with the ground, Ruby spinning mid-air with Qrow's scythe coming down on the Shadow's head as the wolf went maw-first and opened its gaping fangs at the shadow's torso.

The entire scenario couldn't have taken more than a minute as Jaune and the others stood and watched with awe. There was a blinding flash, and suddenly the Neo shadow was disappearing into small, insignificant particles of black dust. Whatever remained of the enemy shadow was no more, completely decimated by the relentless assault Ruby wrought upon it.

The Shadow Hunters watched as Ruby stumbled back towards the group, near Qrow's body. As she did so, her vicious new persona dissipated into a blue fog. Jaune could see that she had used almost all of her spiritual energy in the assault, but he didn't need Hodr to see that the situation had exhausted her. Ruby, eyes dazed, dragged herself back towards her Uncle. Pyrrha and Weiss came up to her and caught her before she fell face first into the ground next to him, and gently they helped her to the ground. Ruby reached out her hand, and grabbed that of her departed uncle's.

She smiled, weakly, as she looked at his face. "I did it, Uncle Qrow. I did it." Then all of the wear and tear of the night, the emotional wreckage and the physical toll came to bear on Ruby's consciousness. As her eyelids fluttered, Ruby could hear the concerned voices of her fellow Shadow Hunters before she fell into a deep, unconsciousness.

Pyrrha stepped forward and gently lifted Ruby off of the ground, cradling her in her arms. She looked to the others as the door manifested on the far side of the room, just as it had done with the giant snake shadow in the previous room. Jaune and Blake each approached a side of Qrow and lifted him between them, and they all silently, solemnly made their way to the exit on the far side of the room.

Without warning, a pillar of light erupted in the room, directly in front of the door. It shimmered with all of the colors of the rainbow, spinning and cascading light across the floor of the strange lace-filled room. The spinning, rotating pillar of light expanded and nearly covered the entire room, blinding Jaune as it rushed over him. As the light died down, Jaune blinked as he struggled to adjust his eyesight, barely making out the silhouettes of four figures standing where the pillar of light hit the ground.

"Oh, looks like we're interrupting. Terribly sorry." The voice seemed feminine to Jaune, and in its tone it implied that it was, in fact, not sorry at all about the fact that they had just appeared. "We just couldn't possibly wait any longer to meet you."

As his eyes adjusted, Jaune realized the speaker was, in fact, female. She was around the same age as he was, and she had dark hair that cascaded down one shoulder, and her piercing yellow eyes seemed to be staring directly into Jaune. She wore a red sweater with yellow lines running through it, though it only had one sleeve. The other arm was bare save for a gold bracelet that went from her wrist to her elbow. She was smiling confidently with one hand on her hip as she surveyed her surroundings.

Next to her stood a silver-haired boy wearing a black tank to and black denim pants, stretching down to his black boots. On the opposite side of her was a woman with short-cut green hair, wearing a green tank top and tan-colored cargo shorts. They all had looks on their faces that made them seem amused at the current situation. Jaune could feel the heat in him rising. They weren't aware of what he and his team had gone through, or they just didn't care.

"I'm surprised you made it this far, quite frankly." She said as though to fill the following silence. The Shadow Hunters all stared, and Jaune had no idea what to make of the situation. He wanted to go back to the dorms. He wanted to rest, to process everything that had just happened. Between Ruby's new Persona and Qrow… he needed time. He wanted these people out of his way.

"What do you want?" He said, finally, looking over to Ruby lying in Pyrrha's arms. She was out cold, and Pyrrha's knees were bent as though ready to sprint if necessary. Jaune realized Pyrrha was more alert than he was – she had picked up on something that declared these people as their enemy.

"Well, for me…" this voice was masculine, and came from the back of the gathered group. Jaune felt he recognized it, and from the other side of Qrow he could feel Blake tense up. That's when Adam stepped forward, but he looked… different. Cleaner than the last time Jaune had seen him in the warehouse. His hair was cut shorter, cleaner. He had even ditched the black trench coat. "I just wanted to pay back a favor to my ex."

Blake looked at Jaune, and looked at Qrow. Jaune saw how wide her eyes were as she struggled with what to do, and Jaune felt Qrow's body shift as Blake tried to – discreetly – wrap her hands around her Evoker.

"That was a bad thing you did, Blake. " Adam's voice deepened as he stepped closer to her. Weiss, the only member of the hunters not carrying someone, stepped between Adam and Blake. She unsheathed her rapier and held it, point first, toward Adam. Jaune saw Adam's hands go up, showing that he was unarmed. "Woah, woah…. What's this now? Did the princess finally get claws?"

"I don't care why you're here." Weiss said, venom dripping from her voice. "I don't care who your friends are. I do, however, care that you're in our way." She flourished her blade, and then brought the point back to center against Adam's chest. She took a step closer to him, leaving less than a foot between the two. "You will move out of our way, or I will run you through."

"Oh yeah?" Adam said, and Jaune saw his casual smile open into a full wide-toothed grin. "You wanna try me?" His voice rose, and Jaune watched as Adam's chest rose and fell from deep breathing. His eyes went wide, and his pupils started to dilate. Adam started to chuckle, but stopped when the dark-haired girl put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not yet, Adam." She said carefully. "Let's see if we can handle this… diplomatically."

"To hell with diplomacy," the silver haired boy said as he stepped forward. "I'm itching to go too… I wanna see just how good these kids are."

"Listen to Cinder." The green haired girl said, her eyes shooting daggers at the silver haired boy. "Let's just deliver the message and get out of here."

"Tch… fine." He grunted as he turned his back on the group, but Jaune watched as he turned back for one more look, straight at Pyrrha.

"No need for violence." Cinder said as she stepped in front of Adam toward Weiss. Cinder stood directly in front of Weiss's blade, arms outstretched, palms facing the group. "We're just here to deliver a message from our leader. We hope that you will hear us out without issue."

Weiss looked over to Pyrrha, who had her eyes narrowed at Cinder. She glanced briefly back at Weiss, and gently nodded her head. Weiss took a step back and sheathed her blade. "Fine, say what you have to say so we can get out of here."

"We…" Cinder said, gesturing to the rest of the group behind her. "Are Salem. We have come to you with a warning, and an offer. First," she said, as she started slowly to walk around the room. "We would like to offer you a chance to stop what it is that you are doing. To leave Muspell behind and to leave it in our capable hands. To go back to your normal lives, where you will not have to worry about another terrible tragedy taking place."

There was silence surrounding her speech. The shadow hunters all looked at one another, and then back at each other.

"I can see that this does not appeal to you. We thought that might be the case." Each of the members of Salem stepped forward. The silver haired boy cracked his knuckles. The girl in the cargo shorts lowered herself closer to the ground, like a cat ready to pounce. Adam popped his neck, and levelled his eyes on Blake. Cinder stopped her pacing and stood at the front of the group once more. "So let me get to the warning. Should you continue on the path that you are on, we shall make it our responsibility to deter you…" Her eyes stared into Jaune's, then she glanced at Qrow's body, still supported between Blake and Jaune, "by any means necessary."

Salem gathered itself back together, standing once more in a tightly knit group in front of the exit. The green haired girl's eyes went wide, her pupils dilated, and her body convulsed for a split moment. As it did so, the same beam of strange light encapsulated Salem, a spinning beam of every color of the rainbow. As it surrounded Salem, it grew larger and larger, ready to encompass the entire room. This time Jaune was ready, and he closed his eyes as the light washed over him. He could hear Cinder's voice echo across the chamber. "Let us hope this is the last time we meet."


	30. Chapter 29

Friday, May 19th

Blake calmly walked to the bottom of the stairs where the rest of the Shadow Hunters had gathered. She was wearing a simple black dress that ended below the knee. They all wore black, sitting in silence, looking back and forth among one another. Weiss opened her mouth as though to speak, then thought better of it, glancing to the side. Blake took a seat next to Ruby, who was staring down at the floor. Blake gently rubbed Ruby's back absentmindedly as they all sat in silence.

"I… I guess I'll start." Ruby slowly stood, attempting to smile at the gathered hunters. Her eyes were sunken, as though she'd had trouble sleeping. "He was my uncle, after all."

She shuffled in place momentarily, but just by her standing there seemed to be an ease in the tension surrounding the students. There was a long pause before she continued. "I'm glad we're doing this. Thank you for coming to… to say goodbye." Ruby held herself close, meeting Jaune's eyes. Jaune tried to silently urge her to keep going, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Uncle Qrow taught me… just about everything. He was a tough teacher, but a good one. He taught me how to use…" Ruby's eyes began to water, and she rubbed her eye with the back of her sleeve. "He taught me how to use a scythe. He told me about what it was like when he fought alongside my mom, and how awesome that was. He told me about shadows and how I could fight them someday. I guess, more than anything, he made sure I was ready…"

She held herself for a moment, looking at the familiar room. Just days before, Qrow had been sitting in one of these chairs, trying to make their muddy situation more clear… but now… now their situation was more confusing than ever. "It's a shame we couldn't do a real funeral… but I think Qrow would be ok with this too. He was never much for making a big deal out of anything."

"I think he'd like this too." Weiss said, smiling up at Ruby. "He was a bit…" she glanced at the others. "Rough around the edges." Weiss finally finished. "He never stopped making fun of me for being such a control freak." She glanced around the room. "But he did alright with us, I think."

"I think so too, Weiss." Jaune stood up as he spoke, putting an arm on Ruby's shoulder. "I think we're going to miss him, but we'll… we'll figure it out. For Qrow."

Pyrrha nodded, standing with the others. "Qrow never finished telling us about Salem, so we don't know what we're up against..." Pyrrha reached out to Jaune's shoulder. "But that hasn't stopped us before. We can do it together."

"Together." Weiss said, reaching her arm out to Pyrrha's, then out to Blake's as Blake stood beside her.

"Together." Blake nodded, putting her arm out to touch Ruby's. They stood there in a circle all together, looking each other in the eyes, nodding through the tears. They held each other close, pulling in around each other. Using one another for support, using the nearby shoulders to catch their tears. And just like that, a muddy situation became somewhat clearer.

 _Thou art I…  
And I am thou…  
Thy story progresses to the next chapter…  
Thy Personas of the Fool Arcana shall be stronger…_  
_

"Hey Pyrrha." Jaune said quietly from the rooftop where he leaned over the edge, watching the city start to light up for the night. He didn't have to look behind him to know it was her, he could just… tell. There was something about the way Pyrrha entered a room, the way confidence and energy waved off of her that you just knew she was there.

"You needed a moment to breathe too, I see." Pyrrha said as she walked up next to him. Jaune could see her hair falling loosely around her shoulders. He wondered if he had ever worn her hair down before tonight in her entire life.

"Yeah, it's just… a bit much."

"Don't worry, Jaune." Pyrrha's eyes turned to Jaune's, and Jaune immediately found it very hard to worry about much of anything.

"I…" Jaune glanced away from Pyrrha, turning his eyes back to the Vale night sky. "I know it's not my fault." He said it resolutely, firmly, as though he were trying to convince himself of the truth of the words. "I mean… technically it's not my fault." He added, more gently this time. "I couldn't have known what the Shadow would do, but if I had paid more attention… if I had been faster… if…."

"If." Pyrrha said definitively, grabbing Jaune by his shoulders so that he was forced to face her. "If." She repeated, looking him dead in the eyes. "You can if, and maybe, and if some more Jaune. But at some point, you have to move to the 'then'." Pyrrha let Jaune go, and returned her gaze to the city lights. A silence fell between them as Jaune contemplated Pyrrha's words.

"The world of 'if' is a terrible place to live." Pyrrha finally added. "In the world of if, a bolt of lightning could fall from the sky and strike you. In the world of if, every enemy could be too strong for you, too fast for you, and too smart for you to outmaneuver. In the world of if, you could fall under any number of tragedies, trials, tribulations, and drown under the weight of how horribly awful everything has the potential to be."

Pyrrha once more looked at Jaune, her face stern. "In the world of 'then', however… in that world, you get past all of the ifs and you just focus on what to do next. In that world you get to see that a bolt of lightning isn't falling from the sky, so you can go about your day. In that world, you can see that even though the enemy appears more powerful than you, you have a strength inside that makes you endlessly mighty. In the world of then, you acknowledge that the ifs that happened have happened, and you get to ask yourself a very important question."

Pyrrha squared herself against Jaune, shrugging her shoulders lightly and placing a hand in Jaune's. "What are you going to do about it?"

Jaune's eyes widened at Pyrrha's touch. He looked down at her hand, looked up at her eyes, looked at her dress. He took in the entire package, and wondered how he felt about it. He realized he felt good. He liked the way Pyrrha looked at the world. He wanted to learn to look at the world that way too. So Jaune pulled Pyrrha's hand into an embrace. And there, with the night sky around them, the city of Vale lighting up behind them, Jaune asked himself a very important question.

Monday, May 22nd

"So we're gonna fight them." Jaune said definitively as he stood around the gathered Shadow Hunters. They all looked at him with solemn, but resolute expressions.

"I know this past time has been trying for us, but we must decide what is next." Pyrrha added beside him.

"Right." Blake said, quietly. "We can't let him get in our way." She stopped as she realized everyone was looking at her with curious expressions. She blushed slightly as she corrected herself. "Them. We can't let _them_ get in our way."

"It will be tough for all of us." Weiss took a moment to look over everyone present. "Which is why we should do everything we can to prepare." She stood and adjusted her skirt, then set her shoulders. "That way, when the time comes, we'll be ready. Or, at least, as ready as we can be."

"I just…" Ruby looked more reserved than Jaune had ever seen her. She was still sitting as she spoke and seemed to be trying to fold in on herself, trying to disappear. "I just want to make sure that we're careful. " She was playing with her hands absentmindedly as she spoke. "We've… we've lost enough."

Everyone paused to look at Ruby as the reality of the situation set in. Qrow had passed, and they had all taken the weekend to ponder on the meaning of that, but none of them had said it aloud. Sure, Weiss had mentioned to Jaune that the Grimm Hour could be fatal, but… for the first time since he started his crazy adventure, Jaune had to come to the terms with the fact that he could very well be the next one to die.

"It's worth the risk." Jaune said finally. "We may not know what we're getting ourselves into…" Jaune stared down at his hands. "But we've been given this awesome power. We can't just ignore it, and we can't just let it slide because it's dangerous."

"And we can't let them bully us." Blake's voice was hard, solid, resolute as she spoke. "Whatever Salem is trying to keep us from, we need to get to the bottom of it. We have to figure this out."

Ruby looked at her friends and her worried expression slowly became a soft smile. "You're right." She nodded a few times, repeating. "You're right."


	31. Chapter 30

Sunday, May 21st

"Hey, are you awake?"

Jaune knocked on Ruby's door with the back of his knuckles as he leaned casually against the wall beside it. It was still fairly early – at least, for a Sunday, a day on which the entire group of Shadow Hunters had an unwritten and unspoken rule that you could sleep in for as long as you desired without judgment. This meant that Pyrrha was still always up at the crack of dawn, Weiss shortly after her, but Blake, Ruby, and Jeanne could sleep in until noon and no one would bat an eye. Granted, Jaune was never sure if Blake was really sleeping in as much as he was, or if she was just secluded in her room until she felt like socializing.

But today, Jaune had plans. He just hoped Ruby wouldn't be too upset with him for waking her up.

Jaune waited and waited, only to receive no response.

-knock, knock-

Jaune waited and waited, only to receive no response.

-knock, knock-

Jaune waited and waited, and couldn't help but feel this was getting repetitious.

-BANG-

Jaune slammed the bottom of his fist against the door, and immediately regretted the loud resounding sound that echoed throughout the dorms. He paused, looking around nervously to see if Pyrrha or Weiss was going to inquire as to why Jaune was trying to destroy Ruby's door. When no one came, he let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his shoulders. They immediately tensed again as he heard the creaking sound of the door slowly opening.

As it slowly and gently swung inward, Jaune was standing face to face with Ruby. She was wearing pajamas that had repeating pink flower petals running up and down against a white background on her legs. Her tank top was black, featuring the face of a smiling pink wolf on the center of her chest whose silhouette was shaped like a heart. Her eyes were half-closed and her hair was a mess as she looked at Jaune, but even through Ruby's eyelids, Jaune could tell she was staring death at him.

"… help you..?" She mumbled with a low growl in her voice.

"H-hey Ruby!" Jaune said, immediately regretting his entire plan for the day. "I was wondering if… maybe, you were free today?"

The door slowly closed in front of Jaune, leaving him standing there standing blankly at it without a response. He could hear the sound of Ruby's muffled footsteps as they moved away from the door. Jaune just continued to stare blankly at the door that was a foot away from his face, then he sighed to himself. He shrugged and started to make his way back down the hallway.

He'd almost made it to the stairs when he heard the sound of a door closing behind him. Ruby was doing a light jog to catch up to him, hoodie pulled down over her face as she caught up to him. She had just finished pulling it fully on when she got to him, and she sighed as she looked him in the eyes.

"This had better be good, Jaune."

"I think you'll like it." He said, with a sly smile as he began descending the stairs with Ruby only a step behind.

* * *

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Rose."

Glynda stood in front of the central Beacon tower, having just – to Ruby's eyes – manifested out of thin air. They had come to the door that only Jaune could see, and he did his whole comatose act as he usually did, then suddenly there Glynda was. Ruby had, at first, simply and dumbly stared Glynda up and down. She was dressed like a schoolteacher, as always, if a bit of a risqué one. She was wearing her simple white button-up blouse and her indigo colored pencil skirt, which lead down to some dark hose followed by her indigo stilettos.

It was the same outfit Jaune had always seen her in. He wondered if she had any other clothes whatsoever, or if she was just permanently in that same outfit. Come to think of it, Ozpin always wore the same clothes as well. He tried to picture Ozpin on an off day, wearing a Hawaiian t-shirt and some shorts. The image just didn't fit.

"I… wha… how?" Ruby said finally, looking between Jaune and Glynda. "I… you were… just…"

"Miss Rose, it is quite inappropriate for a lady of your age to gape so." Glynda reached under Ruby's chin with her small baton, and gently raised Ruby's open jaw back up. "I do hope I shall be on the receiving end of better manners during my visit."

"Ruby, this is Glynda. Glynda, Ruby." Jaune said awkwardly as he gestured back and forth between them. "Glynda is from the Velvet Room. That special place where I get to pick Personas for you guys."

"I um… it's nice to meet you?" Ruby stuttered, extending her hand. Glynda gently took it and gave it a small, firm, proper shake.

"As I said before, the pleasure is mine, Miss Rose." A gentle breeze blew through the area as the three of them stood there, facing each other in silence. Glynda took a moment to adjust her glasses, and politely coughed. "Is this our plan for the day? To simply stand here gawking at one another?"

"Oh, um, right!" Jaune said, looking back and forth from Ruby to Glynda. "I was hoping we could show you around our world. You don't get to leave the Velvet Room often, right?"

"That's correct." Glynda said primly. "I do hope it will be a thrilling adventure." She said it so monotone that Jaune wasn't entirely sure if she was being sarcastic.

Jaune started to walk away from the central Beacon tower, with Ruby and Glynda behind him. Ruby caught up to Jaune with Glynda still a few paces back, and tried to keep her voice low as she spoke next to him. "So this is why you woke me up early?"

"Um… yeah?"

"Thanks, this is _awesome_." Ruby started beaming, and Jaune realized that it had been a while since he had seen that smile come across her face.

"You wouldn't, um… by chance happen to uh… have any idea what we should do?" Jaune muttered out, trying to keep his voice low as well.

"You mean you didn't have a plan? At all?" Ruby glanced back to Glynda, who was staring up at the towering buildings of Beacon. She seemed to be observing everything around her with a particularly critical eye.

"I did have a plan." Jaune said, and opened both of his hands to gesture at Ruby. "And here you are!"

Ruby placed her palm against her face, then sighed, then smiled to herself. "You're just so hopeless Jaune, needing me to show you how to give a woman a good time." She shook her head slowly, then turned once again to Glynda. She couldn't be sure but she thought she was picking up a bit of hesitation – and from Ruby's point of view that made sense. She was a stranger here, and it was up to Ruby and Jaune to show her a good time.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Ruby said calmly as she reached down and grabbed a cookie from the plate in front of the trio. Ruby had a coffee cup sitting to her right. When asked how to have it prepared, she told the barista 'cream and five sugars', but Ruby could clearly tell that they had only used four. They were seated around a small table in an open-air café near the edge of Vale. From their perch, they could make out bits of the forest of Forever Fall.

Jaune had a coffee as well, which he had barely touched, because in an attempt to seem manly he was drinking bitter black coffee that he found particularly unpalatable. He was hoping the others wouldn't notice.

"Why have you barely touched your refreshment, Mr. Arc? Is it not the reason we are here?" Glynda seemed particularly at home as she pulled a tea cup to her lips and took a gentle sip. She was looking at Jaune from over her spectacles, and Jaune somehow felt like he was being scolded by a schoolteacher despite having done nothing wrong.

"I'm just, uh, savoring it." Jaune sputtered as he reached down to grab his coffee and reflexively take a sip of it. He immediately regretted it as the bitter flavor flowed into his mouth. He smiled with a mouth full of coffee and, with some difficulty, swallowed.

"The drinks are nice," Ruby chimed in, "but the real point is conversation! We can chit chat and talk in a relaxing atmosphere. We get to enjoy the open air, and the scenery, and watch all of the people walking by!"

Glynda seemed to ruminate on this for a moment, then nodded slowly to herself. She turned to Ruby and said, "So it's my understanding that you have unlocked a new potential within yourself with a new Persona. Please, elaborate on this."

Ruby's eyes went wide at the sudden response, then she looked to Jaune, who politely took over by speaking up. "Well, Glynda, Ruby's persona seems to have gone from Tyr to a giant wolf. It evolved during the last combat."

"It is usually a sign of great personal strength that one's persona manifests as a different entity. Ruby, what do you believe caused you to gain this new strength?" Glynda took another sip of her tea, and crossed her legs as she waited on Ruby's response.

"It was, um… I think…" Jaune tried to sputter in a solution to get Ruby away from the situation. His mind went completely blank as he watched Ruby's eyes go downcast and her smile fade from her face. Then, however, he watched as her face straightened up and her silver eyes met Glynda's directly.

"It was when the shadow killed my uncle Qrow." Her words were matter of fact, rather than tinged with sadness. "When I saw him go down, it awakened something in me…" she held her hand to her chest, and closed her eyes. "A ferocity I didn't know I had. Then, it felt like Tyr was still… Tyr, just stronger, different. Like he had awakened something in the same way I had."

"I see." Glynda said idly, taking a moment to probe her critical eye over the distant view of Forever Fall. "I had noticed that Qrow was no longer in the classroom, and had assumed that he had gone beyond the veil. Ozpin will be quite disappointed to hear this." Glynda looked Ruby up and down. "But I must say, Miss Rose. It is quite astonishing that you have such inner strength to turn this trauma into power. Others have crumbled under similar circumstances."

Ruby's face flushed. "Well, I…" she rubbed the back of her neck. "Just happy I could help." She said calmly, as Jaune's eyes lit up.

"She did more than help!" Jaune said excitedly. "You should've seen her! She tore into that shadow like a knife through butter! I've never seen anything like it. One of those crazy big boss shadows too, from Muspell. Ruby was so fast none of us could keep up with her. She moved so lightning quick that I couldn't even see her new Persona's name with Hodr."

"Oh, I see. You must be curious, then." Glynda nodded to herself and cracked open the thick, violet, hard bound tome she had been carrying with her the entire time. She flipped it open to the page that displayed Ruby's Persona without having to shuffle through the pages at all, as though she knew by rote memory the precise page she would need to open.

There he was, all anger and viciousness and swiftness and deadliness, sprawled across the pages with mouth full of sword-like fangs. The red cape was flying around its neck, and the large chains restraining its right arm seemed to glitter on the page. There, above the wolf, in big violet words, read the name "Big Bad".

"What a weird name." Jaune said, staring at it. "I expected it to be something more… godly."

"While it is true that most Personas take their names from mythological deities, that is not true of all of them." Glynda stated matter-of-factly. "It seems Big Bad is a persona closer to Ruby's heart, something that resonates within her soul."

"Big Bad, huh…" Ruby said quietly, hand still to her chest. "I like it." Her face broke into a smile as Jaune could tell Ruby was connecting with a part of herself. She seemed more complete, more whole than she had in the days since Qrow had passed. As a gentle breeze blew through the café, Jaune smiled as he felt he had done something good today. Something right.

 _Thou art I…  
And I am thou…  
Thy story progresses to the next chapter…  
Thy Personas of the Magician and High Priestess Arcana shall be stronger…_


	32. Chapter 31

Tuesday, May 23rd

"Yes, Jaune?" Weiss glanced up from the book she had propped open in front of her. She gently set it down on the coffee table and uncrossed her legs as she adjusted herself from her previous comfortable position on the sofa in the common gathering place on the first floor of the dorms. She had been sitting by herself studying, until Jaune had shown up.

"I was hoping we could… talk. If it's ok." Jaune muttered.

Weiss gestured to one of the empty chairs next to the sofa, and Jaune cautiously sat himself down. There was a brief awkward silence afterward while Jaune took a deep breath and seemed to gather his thoughts. Weiss sighed and held out her palm towards him.

"Let me stop you right there, Jaune." Weiss stated before Jaune had actually said anything. "I feel like this is going to be about the whole… social link thing that you do, and how we don't have one yet, and how you'd like to fix that, right?" She glanced at Jaune who stiffened slightly. "Well, don't worry about it. I've come to terms with the fact that I don't have an array of personas, and I've decided to continue assisting the team in the best manner that I can, with Idunne at my side."

She crossed her legs and reclined back into the seat again, regaining her comfortable composure. "I know that it may not be as powerful, and it may not contribute to the team in the same way, but I'm ok with that. Sure, Ruby has her new Persona, and Pyrrha is as talented and powerful as always, and Blake has been taking to using her multiple personas rather well, but…"

"Actually, Weiss, that's not what I wanted to talk about." Jaune interrupted finally.

Weiss stopped speaking suddenly, glancing from left to right with a confused expression. "It's… it's not?"

"Don't get me wrong." Jaune shrugged and offered her a soft smile. "I'm glad you're ok with not having extra personas, and I'm glad that we don't have to force the whole social link thing. Thanks for sharing, it does ease my mind a lot to know that you're at peace with everything." He closed his eyes and widened his smile for a split moment, then his face became more serious. "I was actually hoping… that I could talk to you about dust."

Weiss stared intently at the floor for a moment, seeming to stop breathing. She closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe from her mouth while Jaune waited politely in the silence. Once Weiss had seemingly gathered her thoughts, she pulled some strands of hair behind her ear and looked Jaune in the eyes. "I'll tell you what I can."

"W-well… it's supposed to help create Personas, right?"

"Not quite." Weiss straightened her back and resumed a less comfortable posture. "Our other selves are a part of ourselves from the moment we gain the sense of self required for one to manifest… the Dust just awakens what's already there… and not quite as pleasantly as your experience was."

Jaune flashed back to when Hodr awakened. The giant bear that was rushing towards him… Ruby and Pyrrha helpless at his side… reaching down and grabbing the Evoker as though walking in a trance that he could barely control… And then the sudden sense of feeling more alive – and more complete - than he had ever felt.

"Dust forces the 'other self' inside of someone to manifest whether it's ready to or not. In…" Weiss's eyes went downcast for a moment, her expression somber, "in Qrow's case… we considered it a success. His personality was so well formed that Huginn manifesting barely had any side effects. For Raven, though…" Weiss bit her lip and furrowed her brow, a look of concentration on her face. "Her Persona manifesting caused her massive headaches, and the extent of the damage on her psyche and her body could never truly be measured."

"So… it was more than just headaches?" Jaune leaned back, looking at Weiss with his arms crossed. "Dust makes you… crazy?"

"Honestly, no one knows the full extent of what it can do… just…" Weiss sighed again, avoiding eye contact with Jaune. "My father… when he began experimenting with it, there were… casualties." Weiss swallowed hard, her voice cracking. "He wasn't afraid of… necessary losses, he called them. When someone's 'other' self manifests without the person being ready, it… it can outright kill them." Weiss closed her eyes. "It's possible that the headaches and the damage Raven suffered is from her Persona trying to kill her from the inside out."

"That's… that's awful." Jaune tried to imagine having Hodr as something other than himself… as an enemy. The thought sent chills down his spine, but from somewhere in his heart Jaune felt warmth. A reassurance. It was as though he could feel Hodr placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad we awakened the way we did."

"Well, actually…" Weiss looked to the side. "I actually…" Weiss finally opened her eyes, looking at Jaune. There was a pained expression – a sorrow – in her face that Jaune couldn't quite place. "I originally awakened Idunne by… by using Dust." Weiss swallowed again, closing her eyes once more as she breathed deeply. "It was… not an experience I would recommend."

Jaune's eyes went wide as he looked at Weiss. She seemed so small, trying to shrink back against the love seat. Jaune stood up and gently sat down next to her. He reached out his hand and, tentatively, put it on her shoulder. Weiss's eyes opened again, staring into Jaune's. Her eyes were starting to water as she looked at him. "I'm sorry Weiss… I had no idea."

"It's… it's fine." Weiss rubbed the tears away with the back of her hand and sniffled slightly. "I'm just glad that she's with me now, but… at the time…" Weiss sighed deeply. "It was like fighting yourself. Like somehow… having yourself… outside of yourself. Like having a part of you missing, and desperately reaching out to bring that part of you back." She took a deep breath in again, and had to rub her eyes once more in an attempt to stop the tears from coming. "That's what using Dust is like, Jaune. Like separating yourself… from yourself. Only it feels…" Weiss looked up at the ceiling and there was a silence that filled the room as she seemed to search for the word. "It… makes you feel alive. Alive in a way you never knew you could feel, like you're so aware of everything all at once. It makes you feel infinitely powerful, but at the same time so helpless. Like you're so weak, but also so strong." She shook her head, and she rubbed the center of her forehead slightly as she spoke. "I'm sorry it's… it's just so hard to explain. Like you're in pain, but you love it…"

After she finished speaking, Jaune just sat in the quiet moment and let the words pass through him. He thought about what that feeling must be like, but he honestly couldn't even imagine a sensation like the one that was being described. His union with Hodr had been exciting and scary, sure, possibly even terrifying. One thing it wasn't, though, was painful. The initial strike from the giant Ursa had hurt but that was a physical pain. The pain Weiss was describing sounded like a wound much more deep.

"I wish you never had to go through that." Jaune said finally, filling the void. "I can't imagine what it's like, and I won't pretend I do, but I can tell it hurt you." Jaune, with his arm still on Weiss's shoulder, gently pulled her in to a light embrace. "I wish you didn't have that pain with you, but I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you've got Idunne, and I'm glad you shared that with me."

Weiss let Jaune pull her in without complaint, and she rested her head gently on his chest. She closed her eyes and breathed deep, and as Jaune spoke she sobbed lightly, gently. She felt herself grow lighter as his gentle words washed over her, and she found herself smiling with the tears, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

Jaune gently rubbed Weiss's shoulder and back as she sobbed into him, and aside from the gentle sniffles and breathes of Weiss, the room was filled with a calm and quiet for quite some time. When Weiss had finished, she found herself gently laughing as she pulled herself away from Jaune, sitting back and smiling at him. Jaune returned her smile earnestly and shuffled himself to allow Weiss some space.

"You know," Weiss chimed with a slight chuckle in her voice, "I've never told that to anyone. And it occurs to me that this might be the exact kind of thing that would cause one of those social links to happen."

Jaune chuckled to himself at how conscious Weiss seemed to be of the fact. Almost as if on cue, Jaune heard the voice echoing in his mind to let him know that Weiss was, of course, absolutely right.

 _Thou art I…  
And I am thou…  
Thy story has been allowed to progress beyond a chapter once thought closed…  
Thy Personas of the Empress Arcana shall be stronger…_

"I… think it just happened." Jaune said with a light laugh as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, I uh… didn't know that… um…"

"It's ok, Jaune." Weiss reached out and patted Jaune on the hand. "I trust you, and I'm glad I do. Now we're stronger as a team, and… now that I've been able to share that, maybe we can move on to what to do about Salem." Weiss nodded to herself, her tears having dried. Her eyes were still slightly bloodshot, but Jaune could feel her resolve as her gaze met his. "That's why you asked about the dust, right? To brainstorm how to best stop Salem in their tracks?"

"Right." Jaune nodded, his expression serious. "If they use Dust like Qrow suggested, then I wonder if stopping them from using Dust might be the key to gaining the upper hand if we run into them again."

Weiss held her hand to her mouth and nodded slowly as well. "Perhaps…." She continued, "I doubt we'd be able to just take it out from under their noses, though. Who knows how much Dust they have, anyway." Weiss looked to Jaune and smiled, then yawned suddenly. She stretched and stood. "But good thinking, Jaune. It's a good start, but for now I think I need to get some rest."

"Me too, actually." Jaune followed suit as he also yawned, stood up, and stretched. "I'm glad I came to chat with you though, Weiss."

"Me too." Weiss blushed slightly as she nodded to herself. "Me too."

Jaune watched as Weiss ascended the stairs to her room and felt a gentle warmth in his chest. Not the kind of warmth that one gets from infatuation, or the warmth accompanied with romance or lust. What he felt was the warmth that one gets from being closer to someone, intimate with someone in a way that only comes from gentle kindness and patience. Jaune took a moment to bask in that warmth, and with a gentle glow in his heart, Jaune ascended the stairs himself to prepare for a nice night's rest.


	33. Chapter 32

Wednesday, May 24th

"Mister Arc, it's been a while."

Jaune glanced up at the familiar sight of the Velvet Room. He could see the dolls near him, the way Pyrrha and Ruby sat staring straightforward. The doll picturing Weiss was finally sitting up, showing off the Empress card on the desk in front of her. Blake's doll was there as well, as usual.

There was a silence that took its time filling the room after Ozpin spoke. It gently eased its way into Jaune, who simply remained seated as he glanced through the dolls to the back corner of the room where Qrow had previously sat. There, where his doll would've been leaning casually against a chair, was only a simple empty chair next to an empty desk. As though nothing of importance had ever occupied it.

But Jaune knew different. Ozpin knew, too. Of that Jaune was very certain. A fire rose in his chest as he turned from the empty chair to Ozpin, who sat as he always did. His fingers steepled, his eyes glancing down over his spectacles – watching, judging. Jaune wasn't sure why the sight of Ozpin in this empty room gave him something to be angry about, but it did.

Jaune had heard from his sister that anger was just a way to show fear. Qrow had once sat where Jaune was, right? What would happen to Jaune if he went the same way as Qrow? Would Ozpin just still sit there, staring, judging, at whoever came behind him? Or worse, what if Jaune was the only one left in a room of empty chairs and empty tables, with no one but Ozpin to keep him company.

Jaune shook the thoughts from his mind, taking in a few breaths and carefully coming to a stand. He picked up the new collection of cards on his desk and gently made his way to Ruby's. There, he passed one of the new personas into her possession and looked down to see Big Bad staring back at him from the Magician card. Then, still not responding to Ozpin, he decided to head to Weiss's desk. Now that he could see the Empress card in front of her, he took a moment to look Idunne over and place a new persona into her possession.

"I can't help but feel that you're not in a particularly talkative mood, Mister Arc." Ozpin stood, walking in front of the blackboard. Jaune hadn't paid attention to it previously, but now the word 'Encounter' stood out in gentle violet chalk. "Forgive me for saying so, but I wonder if it could be from the sudden reduction in class size."

Jaune looked back at the empty desk from where he stood, and then slowly turned his head to face Ozpin. "Did you know?" Jaune said, cautiously. "That he wasn't going to make it?"

"I have many strange gifts." Ozpin replied. "Clairvoyance is not one of them." He straightened his back and looked at Jaune could see sympathy in Ozpin's eyes. The gentle cheer he usually had about him had dissolved into a seriousness Jaune wasn't familiar with sensing from him. "I will say, though, that this path is not one that many can expect to walk away from alive."

"At least you've got more of us, right?" Jaune's voice was bitter as he said it, looking down at his hands. "So even if I die, there will just be another Wild Card to take my place."

"That is a fine assumption, Jaune Arc, if an incorrect one." Ozpin sat himself back down, crossing his legs in his chair as he made himself comfortable. "Should you pass, Jaune, I'm afraid we'll be out of people to solve this predicament."

Jaune raised an eyebrow to Ozpin, tilting his head as he spoke. "You mean… that there's no backup?"

"Young man, your own position is remarkably unique in and of itself." Ozpin sighed gently as he waved his hand in a lackadaisical manner. "I thought we had already covered this, but I've never encountered a situation in which one has had the power to pass the Wild Card onto his comrades." Ozpin pointed to the Pyrrha doll at the front of the room. "Miss Nikos, for example, is now exponentially stronger than she was when she just held Baldr as her Persona, and that alone was impressive." He then gestured to Ruby's doll. "Miss Rose now has an extremely potent new Persona, in addition to whatever other personas you grant her." He then gestured to Weiss. "And Miss Schnee, who had been entirely reliant on Idunne to be the best she could be, can still utilize Idunne to her full capacity while utilizing whatever else you can throw at her keen mind." Ozpin adjusted his glasses and leaned back in his chair. "You see, Mr. Arc, as always your power is to empower those around you."

Jaune nodded slowly, and looked back over the dolls of his friends, all staring at him with blank expressions. "They are pretty awesome, huh?" He smiled gently, thinking of his friends banding together. Since they last went to Muspell, things had been dark. Now, however, he was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But first, he had to find out precisely what he was getting himself – and his friends – into.

"What would make them even more awesome," Jaune said with his arms crossed as he leaned against the blackboard, "would be knowing ahead of time what we're getting into. Qrow was telling us a bit about Salem, but he never reached the heart of the story. Why did Raven turn on everyone? Who are those other people with her? What's their deal?"

* * *

"Are we really gonna do this?"

Mercury glanced up at the shadow before them. Red hot chains were tied around its body, keeping it tied to the snow-covered ground. Cinder was standing in front of it, her hand extended as she held her head with her other hand, grunting with effort. The large, vaguely humanoid form engulfed in darkness was struggling against its molten bindings, but Cinder seemed to be keeping it in check. They were in a large, frozen tundra that seemed blanketed with snow.

"We must." Raven stepped in front of the gathered members of Salem and placed her hand on Emerald's shoulder. "This one is stronger than the large bird shadow we practiced on before. You're going to have to put more effort in than you ever have. Can you do it?" Raven got very close to Emerald's face as she asked, eye to eye. Emerald took a deep breath and looked back into Raven with her big, earnest eyes. Emerald nodded.

"I don't get it." Adam said from next to Cinder. "Why are we doin' all of this when we got the dust already? What more could we need to do everything we want to?"

"It's not up to us." Cinder said, straining with effort to keep the shadow held in its chains. One of the molten bands holding the shadow snapped, and it leaped up for just a moment. Before it could reach Cinder, she let out a cry and another shimmering chain of fire erupted from the ground and wrapped itself around the shadow's outstretched arm, forcing it back to the ground.

"We do as we must." Raven said as she came to stand next to Adam. "It is the way it must be."

"But if we send it out by itself, won't they just kill it?" Mercury said. "It only took one of them to kill the last one."

"That's the plan." Raven smiled. "So long as it dies outside of Muspell, we're doing our job just fine."

"So our whole deal isn't even to fight them?" Adam raised his voice, turning to Raven with an agitated look on his face. "I didn't sign up just to hang out and let shadows do all of the work for us. I want to get what's comin' to me!"

Raven stretched her arm out and placed it on Adam's shoulder. He stopped abruptly as her eyes came to face his. "And you will, young man. First, however…" she looked at the shadow being pinned by Cinder. "We must do our part in the grand scheme of things. Emerald, are you ready?"

Emerald stepped forward and nodded to the rest of the gathered members of Salem. She stepped next to Cinder, and held her hands to her head. Her head started to shake as a bright rainbow light began to fill the room. A pillar of luminescence surrounded the shadow that was being pinned by Cinder. The pillar grew to cover the whole room, then without warning, vanished. Where the Shadow once lay, there was a snow-white emptiness. Emerald collapsed to her knees, only to be caught by Cinder next to her.

"Great work, Emerald." Raven said softly. "You can rest for now. We all can." She gestured to the rest of the members of Salem who all began to leave the area. Adam paused at the end, glancing back at the space the Shadow had occupied, and turning to the rest of Salem, a confused expression on his face. After a few moments, he shrugged and lightly jogged to catch up to the rest of the group.


	34. Chapter 33

"Jormangandr." Ozpin stated simply.

"Gesundheit." Jaune replied.

Ozpin sighed, took off his glasses for a moment, and rubbed is forefinger and thumb on his forehead. After placing them back on his head, he cleared his throat. "Jormangandr," he tried again, "is the name of the serpent that circles the world and will one day devour it." Ozpin gestured to the surrounding room. "It exists, for now, in a space much like this one. Outside of the world as you know it. It is the intent of Salem to bring it to your world, so that it may do its will."

"Wait, wait wait wait." Jaune waved his hands in front of his face. "They're going to summon… Your-main-gunner, a really big snake, to eat the world?" Jaune reached up and scratched his head. "That makes absolutely no sense at all."

"I suppose it's not in our best interests to dwell on the why, though I believe I have some insight as to who-" Ozpin stopped mid-sentence, and raised his head as though he could hear something. He closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on… something.

"Um, Ozpin? You still with us buddy?" Jaune stepped forward and waved a hand in front of Ozpin's face. Ozpin did not react in any meaningful way. Jaune looked around the room, a confused expression on his face.

"You must go." Ozpin's eyes shot open and he pointed to the door. "There will be time for this later. Now, you are needed elsewhere."

"But-" Jaune began to protest, but he found his feet moving of their own accord. Seemingly unable to control his actions, Jaune found the exit door flinging wide in front of him, the velvet room fading from sight, and the operatic music fading from his mind. When his eyes opened, he was standing at the foot of the clock tower as he usually did when he left the Velvet room, only now he could tell something was a bit off.

The Grimm Hour had come to Beacon, but Beacon was still there. Muspell had not formed in its place – and moreover, Jaune recalled he had come to view the Velvet Room shortly after dinner. His conversation with Ozpin couldn't have lasted that long – something was wrong. The Grimm Hour was here, for certain, but at the wrong time of day. It was nowhere near midnight.

"What the-" Jaune glanced around, staring at the empty courtyard in front of him. He saw a few coffins stranded across the wasteland. Here and there would be a few grouped together, and in front of a bench out looking the city, Jaune could see two of them right next to one another. All of the students, his classmates, had transformed just as though it had been midnight.

"Ok Jaune, let's keep a straight head here…. What should your next step be?" He glanced around in the darkness and felt very, very alone. That, at least, he could fix. Jaune reached down to the evoker strapped to his lower back under his shirt. He put it to his chin and pulled the trigger, a blue fog emanating from the back of his head and forming his persona, Hodr.

Hodr's upside-down body lay bound to the cross with vines as always. In its hands, the knight helmet waited to crown Jaune's head. Jaune closed his eyes as the helmet came down across his face, and he opened his eyes – and his senses. The first thing that struck him was the sense of something terribly strong heading in the direction of the dorms.

Jaune acknowledged the growing panic in his chest and took a deep breath, deciding not to focus on… whatever that was, and focusing instead on his original goal. He envisioned the entirety of Beacon as a map, with one black dot representing the powerful force heading toward the dorm… then there, in the dorm, he could make out a faint red blip. Jaune focused on that blip as hard as he could.

"Ruby!" He called out through his mind, hoping that he was reaching her. "Ruby, there's something coming. Can you hear me?"

"shhhhkkkaune?" He barely heard Ruby's voice calling back through what sounded like fierce radio static. "sssssssshhhhhkoing on?"

"Damnit." Jaune said aloud. Hodr vanished behind him and he took off running at a full sprint, his legs pushing him toward the dorm as fast as they could carry him.

* * *

"And we can't reach Jaune?" Blake said with a concerned expression as she looked between Weiss and Ruby. They were all still dressed in their normal school uniforms, blazers and all. Pyrrha had run upstairs to grab weapons for the team to arm themselves. Even here, in the dorm, it was clear the Grimm Hour had come for them. The once simple gathering room was now glowing a sickly green, blood trailing down the walls in strange rivulets.

"I heard him saying something," Ruby said, holding her Evoker with a stern expression. "I couldn't make out what it was, though. He should be at the clock tower visiting that strange room, so I wonder if Hodr doesn't have enough range to reach us here?"

"If Hodr can't reach us, there's no way Idunne can reach him." Weiss frowned with her arms crossed. "When Pyrrha gets back, we should head out and find him right away."

"Has this ever happened before?" Blake said, looking nervously between Weiss and Ruby. "The Grimm Hour coming at some time other than midnight?"

"Never." Weiss stated. "Always at midnight, on the dot. I have no idea what could've caused it to appear at such a time."

"We should be prepared." Pyrrha came down the stairs and passed everyone their weapons of choice. There was a brief rustling of movement as everyone flourished their armaments. "Jaune is still out there, and I'm not about to leave him behind." Without waiting for consent from the rest of the team, Pyrrha was out the door with her shield and spear in hand. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all nodded silently to each other and followed suit.

They didn't get far, however. As Blake pulled up the rear, she bumped into Weiss who bumped into Ruby who bumped into Pyrrha, who was just standing there with her mouth agape. Blake's eyes followed Pyrrha's up and saw why it was that she had stopped. There, looming in front of the dorm, was a gargantuan Shadow.

Its humanoid body was standing at least three times as tall as Pyrrha, with its silhouette seemingly made of powerful toned muscle. Throughout its naked form, crystals seemed to be jutting out of it. A long blue crystal seemed jammed into its left arm, a red one in its right, then a yellow stabbed through its left leg where a kneecap would be, and a green through its right. Behind its shoulder blades were two black crystals jutting out to form an almost broken-wing like sillouette. The chest of the creature was the only part that was not a mass of black muscle, and it bore a large mask that covered the pectorals as though they were eyes, and the mask bore the Roman numeral for the number eight.

The Shadow's blank face tilted down towards the gathered Shadow Hunters, and there under the mask on its chest a pair of eyes lit up, staring straight at Pyrrha. The large, clawed right hand of the shadow came up and clenched into a fist. As it did so, the yellow crystal on its left leg began to glow and a bolt of lightning struck out of the sky right toward Pyrrha. It hit her squarely in the chest, sending her flying back into Weiss. Ruby grabbed Blake just in time to pull her out of the way as Pyrrha and Weiss came sprawling back, sliding into the ground behind them.

"Ow." Weiss said calmly as she stood up and dusted herself off. "I imagine this thing is not here to play nicely."

"I believe that suits me just fine." Pyrrha's voice dripped with eagerness as she launched herself back to her feet and stepped forward, spear and shield held at the ready. The four girls stood in a line and brandished their weapons, staring up at the massive shadow that was staring down at them with its clawed fists clenched, the strange Grimm Hour moon glowing in the sky behind its gargantuan form.

* * *

Jaune's shoes pounded against the ground as he dashed his way toward the dorm. He thought about stopping to see if Hodr could reach at this distance, but fought against the urge – stopping now could mean endangering his friends. He didn't know exactly what it was they were up against, but knew they would be stronger together. When he and his friends joined forces, practically nothing could stop them.

Jaune was barely paying attention to his current surroundings, being so focused on getting to the dorm, that he didn't see the attack coming at all. An arm jutted out from behind a coffin next to the path he was running, cleanly clotheslining him and knocking him straight onto his back. Jaune felt the air leave his lungs as he gasped, his mind and body shaking with sudden surprise followed by a harsh, intense pain in his throat.

Jaune looked up to see the familiar face of his least favorite member of Salem, the red headed young man with a penchant for wearing black, staring down at him with a smirk on his face. He cracked his knuckles as he looked down at Jaune, and he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small syringe. He kneeled over Jaune's prone body, nearly straddling him as he waved the syringe – filled with its strange orange colored luminescent liquid – over Jaune's face.

"Well, well, well…" he chimed calmly. "Looks like I get to have a little fun with you after all. But don't tell the others, ok?" He gave a mischievous smile and put a finger to his lips. "But I don't think I'll need the Dust to handle you, anyway. You seem like a pretty easy chump to take out, if that was any indication of your skill."

Jaune's eyes went wide. His mind stayed focused on his friends. They needed him – and this guy was in the way. There had to be something he could do. Jaune coughed, taking deep hacking breaths as he tried to fill his lungs with air and his mind with ideas. Nothing came to him, so he reached out both hands to push the silver-haired man off of him. Jaune's arms were pinned above him as Adam fully straddled him. Jaune could feel the side of the syringe pushing into his right hand as Adam pressed his hand into the ground.

"Nuh-uh." He said playfully. "We can't have you moving from this spot. You see, I want the shadow to have some fun before it goes out. I think it would be great for it to play with your friends… I wonder which one it will kill first?"

Jaune briefly contemplated that question, and decided he didn't like any of the answers that he could come up with. He felt a heat rising in his chest as he stared up at Adam, as he thought of his friends, and he thought of the trouble they could be in right at this instant. Right now, in this moment, Jaune couldn't afford to sit back and help his friends from the side lines. Analyzing the enemy, trying to come up with a strategic solution, this was a role he had become comfortable with, proud of.

But for now, Jaune needed to fight.

 _THOU ART I_

Jaune felt an intense pressure against the inside of his chest and skull as he found himself suddenly filled with a strength he didn't know he had. He felt his hands leaving the ground as he pushed back against Adam. Adam's eyes widened with shock just before Jaune head butted him squarely in the forehead in a move that surprised even Jaune. Adam fell off of Jaune onto his backside, holding his head with tears stinging his eyes as he watched Jaune stand.

 _AND I AM THOU_

Jaune stood over Adam and reached down for his evoker, placing the gun against his temple. The heat was rising faster now. Jaune's breathing became more and more rapid, and Jaune felt for certain his brain was going to explode out of his skull from the pressure, that his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Something inside of him was growing, and this thing could not be contained any longer. It needed release, and there was only one way to set it free.

Jaune pulled the trigger.


	35. Chapter 34

Jaune's head snapped back from the recoil as the familiar blue fog emanated from his head, filling the space around him and pouring toward the ground in a waterfall of indigo. The fog began to form and coalesce above him into Hodr, trapped in his vines, wrapped against the cross… until Hodr began to shake violently against his bindings.

A small spark started to ignite under the cross that Hodr was bound to. Then, without warning, the spark ignited into a roaring blue flame that began to eat its way up the cross. As it traveled across Hodr's shaking body, it burned away at the vines tying him to the cross. Hodr writhed as he went up in a glorious, bright, burning pyre. Adam reached up his hands to cover his eyes from the brilliantly bright, scathing light of the fire.

 _OUR BOND HAS GROWN… THY NEEDS REQUIRE A NEW FORM, AND I SHALL SEE IT DONE..._

As Jaune's persona continued to ignite in mid-air, a small piece of silver liquid dropped to the floor… like the melted remains of Hodr's armor. At first it was a small trickle, then a sudden downpour of metallic liquid falling into shape as though filling a mold. First it formed a pair of pristine greaves that stretched up to the persona's knees, then it formed the armored torso, and long slender metallic arms. As it finished the neck, it began crafting a silver helm that had three small curved extensions on the bottom – almost like a metallic beard, but then stretched outward to form two curved horns on the side of the persona's face. Finally, it crafted the top of the metallic head and kept going upward, forming a blade that stretched upward. With it fully formed, Jaune realized that on the front of the metallic head was a fleur-de-lis.

Two eyes made of burning blue fire shot open at the center of the fleur-de-lis shape, and the pyre above the persona began to dim. The persona reached up one long slender arm, and the fire dissipated, dropping a long slender pole of wood out of thin air. The persona grasped the pole in its outstretched hand and began spinning it its arms like a well-trained warrior. The armored persona then flourished the wooden spear, and Jaune realized the top of the pole ended in a cross, and at the top of the cross was a white, gold-bordered flag that waved behind the persona, showing an emblem of a plant with three sharp, pointed leaves with vibrant red berries in the center.

 _MY EYES ARE OPEN, AND I CARRY MY BANNER IN THE NAME OF THE BOND WE HAVE FORMED._

Jaune stumbled back slightly, looking the Persona up and down with awe. He could sense this Persona was capable of so much, though at the moment he did not have the sight he usually did that came with summoning his Persona. Jaune pointed to Adam, who was slowly coming to a stand to face down Jaune's new Persona.

"Finally…" Adam said as he looked the armored knight up and down. "I get to show you pieces of trash just what it is I'm capable of…" Adam started to chuckle to himself as held the syringe of glowing orange dust in his hand. "You're not ready for this… trust me…" he jammed the syringe into his left arm and pushed the plunger all the way down, emptying the Dust from the syringe into his arm.

Jaune could immediately sense something was wrong – he didn't need Hodr's sight for that. The pressure in the air seemed off as Adam laughed louder and louder to himself, and doubled over. His pupils widened immensely as he doubled over, staring Jaune's new Persona up and down. Blue flog began to filter out of Adam, forming a gargantuan humanoid shape. Twice the size of Jaune's persona, two giant hooves hit the ground with earthshaking force. The hooves stretched up two white and blue legs that ended in a torso of a well-sculpted man that seemed to be made of ice. The head of the creature ended in two large sharp horns, much like the bladed horns of Adam's shadow. Small icicles fell off of the creature's chin like a beard, and it bore a domino mask that covered its eyes over its large snout. Its nose was pierced, bearing a ring that had a bright, rainbow colored gem.

Without any warning, the giant minotaur-esque Persona clenched its icy hands into fists and attempted to slam them down over Jaune's persona's head. Jaune's persona reacted instantly, pushing the fist to the side with its flagpole, causing the ice giant to barely miss crushing it. Before Adam's gargantuan Persona could recover, Jaune's persona struck the creature over the head with its flag before vanishing after the attack.

Jaune had realized the rules of fighting with a Persona by now after seeing his friends fight so often. With each pull of the Evoker, a Persona's time on this earth was limited. It could perform an attack or a block or a maneuver or two, then vanish before needing to be summoned again. With the strike Adam's persona had just performed, surely it would vanish now, too. Then Jaune just needed to be faster on the draw than Adam, and take him out before he could re-summon this monstrosity by injecting more dust.

As Jaune waited for his chance to strike, though, the giant Persona rushed him. Jaune, in his hesitation, didn't bring his Evoker up. The gargantuan persona struck him square in the chest with its massive fist, and Jaune flew backwards. He skidded across the grass, tumbling over himself as he flew back twenty feet from his original starting point. When he finally came to a stop, he looked up to see Adam standing there with a smirk on his face, his too-wide pupils giving him a manic look. His Persona, towering over them, stood right there with him, not flinching, not moving… and certainly not vanishing.

"C-crap-" Jaune coughed, and saw some of his blood hit the grass. Apparently that hit had come rather hard. Jaune struggled to stand as Adam slowly walked closer, his giant persona walking right beside him, causing the ground to shake with every hoof-fall.

"Just like I thought." Adam smirk widened into a full-faced grin. "Trash like you has no chance against me when I've got Ymir… together, we can crush anyone and anything. My Persona is bigger, it's better. None of you stand a chance against me, none at all." Adam knelt down, face-to-face with Jaune. Jaune stared directly into his face and felt sick from how wrong Adam looked as he rode his high of having this drug-induced Persona. Ymir stood behind Adam, arms crossed, looking down at Jaune's body as he lay there on the ground. "Any last words?" Adam breathed into Jaune's face.

Jaune coughed slowly, realizing that even though he was thrown back, his grip never left his evoker. His fingers gently drummed it out to the side, but Adam was staring Jaune right in the face, seemingly oblivious. Jaune nodded slowly, looking Adam straight in the eye. "Just one, if that's ok…" Jaune breathed heavily, and then in one quick motion he shoved his evoker to his head and pulled the trigger. "Persona!"

Jaune's new Persona manifested once more, coming into being right above Jaune's head. It spun its flag hand-over-hand, striking Adam right in the side as he knelt over Jaune. The strike seemed to hit Adam hard, as he doubled over in pain and flew away from Jaune, landing five feet from where he was kneeling. Adam rolled over onto his stomach, and Jaune's persona landed on the ground. As it did so, it reached up at its throat and tugged at its helm, pulling it free in its left hand. The helm dropped at the persona's feet, landing right in front of Jaune… he could see the shape of the fleur-de-lis staring at him.

Jaune picked up the helm and placed it on his own head, as he had done with Hodr's helm so many times. Just like then, his world expanded… his eyes lit up as he took in the view of the world through the vision granted to him by his Persona. He could see Adam, and could tell that that hit had struck Adam hard. He could also see Adam's persona rushing at him, and his Persona deftly striking the giant in the knee with its flag, causing the giant to stumble and swing wide of Jaune. Jaune also noticed, now seeing his Persona without its mask, that the head was similar to Hodr's… save with the flaming eyes uncovered by vines, and the face now turned right-side-up, it looked vaguely feminine.

Text popped into Jaune's vision above his Persona's head. He could see his Persona was named La Pucelle, and he could see Ymir turning for another strike just as La Pucelle vanished. Jaune was ready this time, and he placed the trigger to his head as he called his Persona to him. La Pucelle appeared just as she had vanished, and her flag came up to strike at the charging bull head, hitting against the metal blades that stretched out as horns. As his Persona struck Ymir, he could see a strange kind of bar like the ones he would see when the team fought shadows, the ones that represented their life force… only this one seemed distorted, different. He couldn't tell if La Pucelle was actually damaging Ymir at all, or just biding time.

Jaune decided the smartest thing to do would be to distance himself from Ymir and Adam and try to rejoin his friends… his friends that, he believed, he may be able to contact from his position. Jaune began to run just as Adam began to slowly come to a stand. As he ran, he focused on Ruby, and found he could sense her as though she was standing right next to him. He called to her. "Ruby!" he said, "Ruby can you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear, Jaune!" Ruby said through what sounded like gritted teeth. "Are you o- Pyrrha, watch out!" There was a loud crash that came into Jaune's mind, as though something big and heavy had just collided with the ground. "Sorry Jaune, we're kind of busy!"

"Don't worry Ruby, I'm on my way, just as soon as I can shake Adam!" Jaune said, and he turned to see Ymir was barreling down on him. At this rate, he'd never make it to the others before Ymir simply crushed him. Jaune's persona spun and struck the creature once more, but this time the bull was ready. As La Pucelle's flag came to strike Ymir, Ymir's hand shot out and swiped at Jaune's Persona. The strike hit true, causing La Pucelle to vanish into a puff of blue fog. As it vanished, so too did Jaune's helm – and his sight, as well as his contact with his friends.

Ymir came closer and closer, the giant monster almost so close to Jaune that it could crush him. From here, across the courtyard, Jaune could see over the field of spattered coffins to his friends who were maneuvering in and around a giant of their own, though this one seemed to be a giant black silhouette of a Shadow. Jaune knew that if he could just keep running, he could make it, but if he showed up with Ymir on his tail, he'd just make everything worse. If only he could get Ymir out of the picture...

Jaune made a split second decision. He stopped in his tracks and turned, just as Ymir's large fists came down to crush him. Jaune dove, right through Ymir's giant legs, and tumbled through to the other side of the ice beast. As he did, he rolled to his feet and came face to face with Adam, who had apparently been running to keep up with Jaune and Ymir. Adam stopped short, surprised at Jaune's sudden closeness to him. Jaune pulled his fist back without thinking, took a deep breath, and decked Adam right in the face. As he did so, he felt a crunch as something gave way beneath his fist.

Adam stumbled back, holding his now bloodied nose and staring at Jaune with shock – shock that quickly gave way to anger. He narrowed his eyes at Jaune and shouted. "YMIR, CRUSH HIM!" With a certain nasally quality to it, which lead Jaune to believe that he had broken Adam's nose.

As Ymir turned around, Jaune put his evoker under his chin and fired. "Agidyne!" La Pucelle appeared once more, blond hair billowing behind her form as her helm appeared once more over Jaune's head. La Pucelle spun the flag in front of her, sending a torrent of flame over Ymir as the giant sluggishly tried to turn around and spear her with its horns. That's when Jaune realized that, even though the fire didn't seem to be hurting Ymir, the strange bar depicting its life force had decreased significantly… and was slowly trickling away, like sand through a sieve.

Ymir finally came around to strike at La Pucelle, impaling her with its horns, causing her – and Jaune's mask yet again – to vanish. Jaune stared up at Ymir and looked back at Adam, who was backing away from Jaune with his left hand holding his nose and his right pointing at him. "Don't you dare come closer!" Adam shouted. "YMIR!" He cried. But Jaune noticed that Adam's previously extremely dilated eyes seemed to be returning to their normal size. Ymir stared down at Jaune and picked up its fist, raising it high to strike down at him.

Jaune watched as the giant fist came down toward him and waited for the very last second. He rolled out of the way, feeling the ground shake beneath him as Ymir's fist hit the ground. He summoned La Pucelle once more. Jaune could feel himself getting weaker, not just physically, but spiritually. He looked down at his body and felt his spiritual energy running low… this may be the last time he'd be able to attack through his persona. He had to make it count. La Pucelle appeared right next to Ymir's fist, still touching the earth, and between the fist and Adam, who was still cautiously, slowly backing away from Jaune.

La Pucelle spun away from Ymir's fist and launched toward Adam. It spun its flag overhead like the blades of a helicopter, and then came down against Adam's who tried in vain to block the strike with his arms. Adam crumpled to the ground. As he did so, Jaune watched as the bar representing Ymir's life force completely vanished. The giant persona stared down at Jaune and La Pucelle, having just stood back up to its full height, and then… started to vanish, slowly, dissipating into a faint, indigo colored fog.

Jaune looked over at Adam's prone body as La Pucelle vanished and he smiled weakly to himself. He could sense through the mask that Adam was alive, just hurt… and he could see his friends, still fighting Hazel. He looked down at his Evoker with blurred vision as he lifted his legs and started walking towards the fight. "Don't worry guys…" he panted, "Don't worry, I'm coming." He took one step, then another, then fell flat on his face as the exhaustion and his injuries overtook him. "I'm coming…" he whispered to himself as blackness overtook him.

The crazy thing is, strangely, Jaune could swear he heard a motorcycle in the distance as his senses faded.


	36. Chapter 35

The towering shadow that had appeared before Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake brought its fist down with such tremendous speed that Blake barely avoided being pancaked against the dirt. She rolled out of the way, coming to a stand and fired her evoker against her temple in one smooth motion. Freya appeared, her cat ears twitching as she launched a wave of fire over the fist that was colliding with the ground. The giant shadow simply lifted its hands and shook off the flames, seemingly unaffected.

Pyrrha rushed between the shadows legs, launching a series of thrusts at the monster's right calf. After her rapid series of thrusts, she pulled her evoker to her head and called Baldr. Her massive glowing persona charged forward, shield-bashing the same spot that Pyrrha had been striking against in the shadow's black, seemingly muscular form. Pyrrha noted, grimly, that the shadow was not recoiling from her strikes.

"Are we even hurting this thing?" Ruby called out as the green crystal on the shadow's left leg began to glow. A small green burst of light appeared under Weiss's feet, and she danced out of the way barely in time to avoid being flung asunder by the spinning torrent of wind that appeared where she had just been standing. Ruby and Weiss looked at one another, and Weiss nodded to herself.

"Idunne!" She called, and her fashion model persona appeared next to her in the low cut dress that she wore. "Let's see here…" Weiss reached out to the persona, who handed Weiss the pair of heart-shaped glasses that Idunne always wore. Weiss put the glasses on her head and tried to focus her mind. Much like Jaune and Hodr, through Idunne Weiss could make out certain pieces of data by using her persona to scan the enemy.

As Weiss tried to examine the massive shadow, the blue crystal on the shadow's arm began to glow, launching a giant shard of ice right toward Weiss. Before Weiss could react, a giant wolf intercepted the shard, crushing it in its giant maw. The wolf vanished, and Ruby gave Weiss a wink as she ran forward to join Pyrrha in striking at the creature's legs, scythe in hand.

"I can't… I can't see anything." Weiss called after a few moments as she squinted through Idunne's glasses. When she had done this before, the images were mostly clear and decipherable. Now, as she tried to examine this new threat, she found herself with the sensation of looking through a thick fog. She couldn't tell it had any weak points, whether certain attacks were effective, or even if they were wounding the giant creature. Weiss bit her lip as the giant shadow swung its massive fist down on Pyrrha, just in time for Pyrrha to call upon Baldr. Where the shadow's fist collided, it met only Baldr's shining shield. The fist bounced back into the air it met the force of Baldr's shield.

Blake had joined the other girls in their assault on this giant formidable persona, but even through the fog Weiss couldn't shake the feeling that nothing they were doing was working. A small circle of light appeared under Blake's feet, but she spun out of the way just before it erupted into a luminous explosion. This shadow's abilities seemed limitless. It had struck at them with ice, light, wind, and thunder abilities and didn't seem to be running out of juice any time soon.

Ruby suddenly stopped in the middle of her strikes, tilting her head slightly to the right as though she was hearing something. "Loud and clear, Juane!" She said as she barely dodged the way of the creature's incoming fist. "Are you o-Pyrrha, watch out!" Pyrrha, who had stopped and looked at Ruby at the mention of Jaune, didn't see the incoming ball of fire until it was too late. She rushed to bring her shield up, but took the full brunt of the attack in the chest, flying backwards and going head-over-feet in mid-air before she collided with the ground. "Sorry Jaune," Ruby called as she rushed to her friend, "we're kind of busy!"

Weiss gritted her teeth as she continued to focus. She saw Pyrrha flying backwards and, though she couldn't identify the enemy's stats, she could see Pyrrha's just fine – and they did not look good. They needed a miracle, or this monster was going to utterly destroy them. Weiss looked down at her rapier and pressed a small, hidden switch right where the hilt met the cross guard. The bottom of the hilt slid open, and inside was a very small vial with a tiny lancet, and the vial was filled with a glowing orange liquid.

Weiss dropped the vial into her hands and looked up at the scene before her. A giant shard of ice was billowing straight for Blake. Freya stood in front of Blake, tome outstretched, launching a blast of fire that seemed to be intercepting the ice shard. Ruby was narrowly avoiding being struck by lightning coming from the sky as Pixie tended to Pyrrha's wounds. Weiss had the solution right there in her hand. She looked at the Dust and back up at the shadow once more, and felt her decision was made – or so she thought.

The roar of an engine interrupted her thought process. She looked over to see a bright orange motorcycle heading straight for them, a stream of yellow light flying behind the helmet like a flag in the wind. As the motorcycle headed closer and closer, Weiss let out a sigh of relief. She tossed the glasses back to her Persona, who vanished, and then placed the vial of dust back into her sword. She wouldn't need it now – a miracle had, in fact, arrived.

Ruby turned her head to see the source of the noise, just as another giant shard of ice came out of the creature and toward her face. Pyrrha, who had been trying to sit up while Ruby tended her wounds, launched herself from the ground to stand in front of Ruby. Her evoker triggered, and Baldr appeared just in time to have the shard of ice collide with Baldr's shield. Baldr subsequently vanished, and Pyrrha started to fall – but Ruby grabbed her under the arm just in time. The two shared a wary look, then they heard the engine revving as well.

They looked up to see that behind the shadow was a woman with long yellow hair, wearing brown shorts, brown boots, a white blouse, and orange aviators was on a stationary orange motorcycle, revving the engine. The front of the bike was pointed right at the shadow.

"I-is she planning on ramming that thing?" Pyrrha gasped.

"Probably!" Ruby said with uncontrolled glee. She smiled, and her previous beating was washed away by pure enthusiasm. The motorcycle rushed toward the shadow, engine roaring as the blonde piloted the vehicle straight ahead. Her right hand stayed on the handlebar, her left went to a gun holster at her hip. "Sif!" She called as she pulled the trigger.

The woman's persona appeared.

A large woman made of solid gold manifested, or so it appeared at first. On inspection, her body was just wreathed in so much long, vibrant, golden hair that it was nearly impossible to glimpse underneath save where it framed a statuesque face that had red eyes and bright red lips poking out. A hand, also seemingly made of marble, stretched out of the mass of hair, which was apparently a giant mass of braids. The persona grasped one long braid – tied with metal bands at the end – in one hand and began to spin it in circles. The end of the braid had a metallic shining protrusion, like a dagger had been tied to it. The persona flew alongside the motorcycle, hair flying back to reveal the cracked, statuesque marble figure underneath. The braid spun faster and faster, and then the persona launched it at the shadow.

The braid shot out like a spear, growing impossibly longer as it travelled from the persona's body. The shadow turned to see the incoming assault, having something of a dumbstruck look on its 'face' that sat on its chest as the motorcycle continued to rush at it. Then, the shadow casually sidestepped in incoming spear.

The braid shot right past it, missing the massive shadow's form by more than a foot.

Suddenly, the braid of gold snapped around one of the shadow's legs, tying itself in a knot firmly. The persona stopped flying and planted its feet in the ground, kicking up dirt as it did so, skidding to a stop as it dug itself into the earth. The persona gripped the braid that was tied to the shadow with both hands, and planting both feet, she pulled.

The shadow's leg came out from under it, causing it to fall to one knee. The shadow's center of gravity lowered as the motorcycle skidded hard onto its side in a sharp one-eighty turn. Popping a wheelie, the blonde revved her engine once more and rushed toward the shadow that was now struggling to regain balance on its feet.

Weiss looked at the scene and saw what needed to be done. She rushed forward and pulled the trigger on her evoker. "Idunne!" She cried, and her persona manifested in front of her. Idunne, with her apple in front of her, blew an icy kiss that turned into a small flurry in front of the girl's motorcycle. After an instant, a slope of ice appeared before her. A ramp with which to launch herself into the air and directly at the shadow.

Just as the shadow seemed to almost be capable of standing, the woman hit the ramp on her bike – headed straight for the head of the shadow. It looked, for a moment, as though she was just going to fall short of her jump and instead just collide with the spiky crystal on the shadow's knee – but at the last moment, the pilot kicked herself off of the motorcycle into the air and pulled her fist back. Shame came straight at the gargantuan shadow's face, golden hair flying all around her face and neck and shoulders.

When her fist came down, Weiss was certain that people on the other side of the world heard the crash.

The moment froze. The blonde's fist was in the shadow's face. Then, the blonde drove the shadow down onto its back, fist still planted in the center of its chest between its 'eyes'. A dust storm kicked into the air as the massive enemy hit the ground. Before the dust could clear, Weiss, Ruby, Blake, and Pyrrha all saw their chance. Four evokers went off, and four personas launched into a flurry of attacks against the massive shadow.

As they did so, the dust storm rose higher in the air as the giant shadow disappeared underneath the fearsome assault. When the dust cleared, the four girls stood amidst the disappearing particles of the shadow's body. The girls' personas all began to vanish – and as they did so, the blonde stuck out her fist. Her giant persona, whose body seemed to be made of cracked marble, whose hair was made of solid gold, reached out a fist and bumped the blonde's before disappearing.

"Yaaaaang!" Ruby called. She dropped her weapon and rushed, nearly stumbling over herself, into her sister's embrace. Yang hugged her sister back, pulling her in with both arms and squeezing her tight.

As they embraced and the last of the shadow dissipated into the air, the world around them began to change. The grass went from pitch black to green, and the strange sky above them began to look normal. It seemed that the strangely timed Grimm Hour had ended.

"Hey little sis." Yang smiled softly, increasing just a bit before letting go.

"Showoff." Weiss smirked, somehow giving a posh and poised appearance despite the clear stress on her face just moments ago.

"Heya there Weiss, Pyrrha, and hey new girl." Yang said with a wave towards Blake. Blake sheepishly waved back, dropping her fighting stick as she did so. She coughed and snatched it back up in a 'let's-pretend-that-didn't-happen' manner.

"Well, looks like we're done here." Weiss smiled to see Pyrrha was joining them, though she had a bit of a slow cautiousness to her from her wounds.

"It is good you could join us." Pyrrha spun her spear and put it behind her. "A very timely appearance indeed."

"Glad to hear it." Yang smiled. "Would hate to be late to the party over some toy."

"Toy?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"So, just where have you been anyway?" Ruby said she stood beside her sister.

"Well," Yang began, "It's kinda a long story…"


	37. Chapter 36

Thursday, May 25th

"How long do you think he'll be out for?" Yang looked at the other girls as they sat at the bottom floor of the dorms in the middle of the day. They had all decided to reconvene during their lunch breaks to get everyone caught up on the situation. They were all in their school uniforms except for Yang, who was wearing a white tank top and black shorts.

Ruby shrugged. "The last time that he went out like this was when he first experienced the Grimm Hour. That time he was out for a couple of days…" She shared a worried look with the others.

"Well, he did say he was fighting Adam," Weiss added, "who was suspiciously not there when we arrived. How did he fend for himself, anyway?"

"I have a guess, but I think I'll let him tell us." Ruby said thoughtfully. There was a small, somewhat awkward silence that followed as everyone ruminated on their own thoughts about the fight.

Blake rubbed her neck. "So… you're Ruby's sister?" She glanced up awkwardly at the blonde in the room. "I thought you'd look more… um…"

"Technically we're half-sisters." Ruby chimed in. "We have different moms."

"Yang's mother is Qrow's sister." Pyrrha added calmly, then took a sip from the teacup in front of her. The effort clearly pained her as she grunted slightly and reached at her right side. She took a sharp breath and attempted to hide the pain with a smile, but Blake couldn't help but look concerned for her.

"Qrow…" Ruby looked solemn for a moment and glanced to the side. Yang stood from her seat opposite Ruby and crossed over to plop down on the couch next to her sister. She took Ruby in a big hug and smiled.

"Don't worry little sis. Qrow always knew this was dangerous work."

"Thanks sis." Ruby smiled from her sister's shoulder, and then leaned back for a moment. "Say, where exactly did you go anyway? Qrow said you had some sort of mission."

"Oh yeah, that thing." Yang stretched and stood up. "While I was missing all of the fun of the team getting together and exploring Muspell, I was visiting one of Weiss's facilities."

"My _family's_ facilities." Weiss corrected coldly. "I don't own any of them."

"Right, anywho," Yang continued without pause, "I had to pick up what Qrow was calling a secret weapon. Something that would supposedly help us explore Muspell to the fullest while fighting off anyone who got in our way."

"A secret weapon?" Blake had a concerned look on her face as she glanced between Pyrrha and Weiss. "I thought that's what Personas were?"

"Well, I dunno what to make of it. I can't seem to get it to work." Yang said as she stood up. "Come on and I'll show you." She lead the group to a small, largely unused coat closet at the bottom of the stairs. She reached inside and tugged – and nothing came out. She rubbed the palms of her hands together, braced herself, and tugged. The group of girls could hear something scraping against the wall as she did so.

After a large tug, Yang pulled free what appeared to be long, wide black box from the closet. It was about six feet tall and big enough to fit any of the girls. Yang dragged it unceremoniously over to the seating area and set it awkwardly on the floor. As she did so, every eye in the room just stared, not sure what to make of this new development.

"It… looks like a coffin." Weiss said unceremoniously, blatantly stating what everyone was thinking.

"If someone comes out of that I'm leaving." Blake said as she crouched up onto the couch with her legs as though she were trying to pounce away from the strange box.

"What's… in it?" Ruby said standing up, coming over to her sister who seemed to be fiddling with a latch – or a series of latches.

Yang pulled a small keyring out of her shorts and spent some time trying to fit the right keys to the right holes. There were five in all, each one a different shape and size specific to the different keys. As she cracked the last one open, everyone held their breath. "Here it is!" Yang said as she pulled open the front of the coffin.

Inside was what appeared to be a person. A small young woman with pale white skin and obbing red hair that framed her charming young face. She was wearing a school outfit much like the girls were wearing. The cut was slightly different in some places, but as long as someone didn't scrutinize too hard, she could appear to be a student at Beacon. There was a large pink bow tied into the back of her hair, and her face seemed serene and peaceful, as though she had simply crawled into the coffin to take a comfortable nap.

"Nope." Blake said as she stood up. Before she could actually get anywhere, Pyrrha grabbed her by the arm.

"I think we should see this." Pyrrha said calmly. Blake looked between the coffin and Pyrrha and sighed.

"Fine."

The girls all gathered around the coffin, Yang reached a finger in and prodded the young girl on the belly. "See, there's nothing to worry about. She doesn't move. Or breathe. Or eat, as far as I can tell." She rapped her fist lightly on the girl's forehead, and a small 'ding' rang out, hinting at the presence of metal underneath. "I think it's a robot."

"A robot?" Weiss started to poke at the girl as well, holding up one of its hands. "The Schnee company built a robot?"

"I'm surprised you didn't know about it." Ruby said, looking the girl over. "I thought you knew about all of their stuff."

"Me too." Weiss whispered solemnly. The girls continued to search the robot in the coffin for any signs of life, but found none.

"Do you think there's an on switch?" Pyrrha inquired, looking at the unfolding situation from the comfort of her seat. "Did they give you some form of instruction manual, perhaps?"

Yang shrugged. "I signed a lot of boring paperwork, but I assumed Qrow would know what to do with it when I got back. Now that he's gone, I've got nothin'."

The Shadow Hunters all looked at the coffin thoughtfully, and after realizing they weren't entirely sure what to do with a girl in a coffin, they decided to put it back into the safety of the coat closet and go back about their days.

* * *

Later that evening, after all of the classes were through, Jaune ambled his way downstairs with a yawn. He had changed into his pajamas, deciding that there was no use in getting ready for the day at 6 in the evening. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he smiled and waved as he saw Ruby. She waved back and interrupted her conversation with a long haired blonde who was sitting next to her on the couch.

"Hey Jaune! Glad to see you up and about so soon." Ruby bounced up and hugged Jaune, and he hugged her back with one hand and covered a yawn with the other.

"Good uh… morning?" He chuckled to himself. "Whose your friend?"

"Oh, right!" Ruby said, and the blonde stood up behind her and walked straight up to Jaune. She held out her hand for Jaune to shake, and he shook it. The woman's grip was so strong that he half expected her to tear his arm out of his second.

"Nice to meet you Joan! I'm Ruby's sister Yang!" Yang beamed as she shook Jaune's hand.

"Uh, right, nice to meet you to! And, uh, it's Jaune." He stammered as she finally released her grip on his hands. He reached up and idly massaged his wrist. "So… you just came back from your mission?"

"That's right, and just in time too." Ruby smiled wide. "If it weren't for her, things would've been a lot worse against that shadow. Pyrrha's bad enough as it is."

Jaune's eyes went wide. "Pyrrha's hurt? Is she ok? What happened?" His mind raced suddenly to the image of the Neopolitan shadow's sword going through Qrow.

"Oh, no no, she's fine, just a bit bruised in places." Ruby said waving her hands. "I didn't mean to worry you like that."

"Thank goodness." Jaune wiped his brow and let his shoulders relax. "After that fight with Adam, everything's a blur. What happened to Adam anyway?"

"We don't know." Ruby shrugged. "When we found you passed out he wasn't anywhere to be found."

"So how did you fight him off anyway?" Yang said, tilting her head as she looked Jaune up and down. "From what Ruby told me, you're more of a support guy."

"Well, actually…" Jaune scratched the back of his head. His face turned a little red as he blushed. "I unlocked a new Persona. La Pucelle."

"Jaune, that's amazing!" Ruby jumped into Jaune and gave him a tackle-hug.

Yang reached over and patted Jaune on the shoulder. "Congrats! That makes two of us now who've hit the next level of awesome!"

"Th-thanks. It seems I'll be able to fight and support at the same time, though I'll try to focus on helping from the backline still. You guys seem to have the frontline covered, especially with Yang joining us."

Ruby pulled away from Jaune with a nod. "That's right, we're gonna be stronger than ever! You should've seen how she and Sif took out that shadow. It was amazing!" Ruby turned to her sister and Jaune could practically see the stars in Ruby's eyes. Yang casually stretched, and Jaune couldn't help but get the impression she was trying to nonchalantly flex.

"Anyway, looks like we can go back to exploring Muspell. Shame the whole robot thing didn't work out." Yang said with a yawn. "Then imagine how much ground we could cover…"

"Um, robot?" Jaune said, skeptically looking between Ruby and Yang. "I feel like I missed something here."

"Oh, yeah, Yang got a robot." Ruby said as though it were no big deal. "It's what Uncle Qrow sent her on a mission for. Apparently it's supposed to fight shadows and help us in Muspell, but it doesn't seem to do much."

Jaune's eyes lit up. "A… shadow fighting… robot?!" His voice went an octave higher at the end. "That sounds so awesome! I have to see it." Images of amazing fighting robots flashed in Jaune's mind. He wondered if this one would be a cool sword-wielding cyborg or maybe a sleek metallic man with a gun for an arm. As Yang and Ruby popped open the coffin, Jaune tried to hide his disappointment and failed.

"It looks like… a girl." Jaune said, frowning down at the coffin. "That's kinda weird."

"It's not like we can activate her anyway." Yang reminded. "Doesn't seem to be an on switch or anything."

"That's a shame," Jaune said, looking down at her. "Having a bad ass robot to help us fight Salem would be awesome."

In that moment, in the brief silence that followed, a small whirring sound emitted from the coffin and filled the room. It sounded like the fan on a computer tower starting up slowly, then quieting all at once again. Jaune, Yang, and Ruby all shared a worried expression, then looked down at the coffin. A small pair of eyes flitted open, letting out a brief green light for a moment before fading back to look like normal, albeit slightly luminescent, green eyes. A high-pitched bright, cheerful, exuberant voice filled the room.

"I'm combat ready!"


	38. Chapter 37

Friday, May 26th

"I still can't get over the fact that we have a robot now." Blake said, looking Penny over from the entrance of Muspell. A new door had unlocked that they had yet to pass through. "So she… fights?"

"She does have a name, you know." Yang said casually as she adjusted her gloves. They were brown leather that stretched back up her arm to her elbow, and they seemed well-padded. On the knuckles were small gold colored spikes that jutted out, making Jaune feel he should be rather conscious about ever being on the wrong end of them.

The robot nodded. "I am called Penny!" There was something strange about the way she paused in between each syllable. Sure, her voice sounded human, and her pitch wasn't strange or distorted, it was just that she seemed as though she had to auto-correct herself as she was speaking, giving a slightly off sensation whenever she spoke.

"So… she _can_ fight, right?" Weiss said, raising an eyebrow in Penny's direction. In response there was a whirring noise and Penny's eyes narrowed. Her wrist opened just above her hand, revealing a small compartment that fired a dagger into Penny's waiting palm. Penny spun the blade expertly in a circle, catching it under hand and ending in a fighting pose.

"I'm combat ready!" she announced proudly, in the _exact_ same way she had stated when she was awakened.

"That's kind of a catchphrase of hers." Jaune said, trying to sound casual but honestly being impressed by the fact that they had a knife-fighting robot on their side. "Guess it's time to see if it's true." He nodded over toward the awaiting door for the 3rd tier of Muspell.

"I, for one, look forward to fighting alongside you, Penny." Pyrrha smiled in Penny's direction, and Penny smiled back.

"Yeah, let's be friends!" Ruby piped, and Penny's eyes went wide.

The dagger in her palm somehow retracted into the compartment on her wrist, and Penny lifted both arms into the air excitedly before clapping them together. "Yes, let us be friends!" She repeated happily, bouncing slightly in her step. Jaune couldn't help but acknowledge that the movements seemed so close to real, but there was an uncanny valley quality to every single thing that Penny did, and he couldn't help but feel that motions that were supposed to be cute filled him with unease.

Yang only laughed and patted Penny on the back. "Well, let's see how we do."

Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Penny all nodded to each other and headed into the door with Jaune pulling up the rear.

As they passed through the portal, Jaune gasped when he saw what was on the other end. They seemed to be in the center of… what appeared to be a city. An old, old city, with collapsed columns in front and around them at every turn. Small antechambers stretched out in different directions, and in the distance was what appeared to be a large, once glorious, palace.

The buildings, the columns, everything looked like tarnished metal. It looked as though it were once pristine, but now it held a sense of grime and being past its prime. The sky above the open city was dark and grim, an endless expanse of black without stars, sun, or moon. The group was standing in a circular area that seemed to be a theater or gathering place of some sort, with steps leading up from the bottom of the pit where the group had come out of what appeared to be a large, once gold pillar. A small door was set against the pillar, an assurance that the group could return.

"Well, now that the group is so large, I had an idea." Blake said, looking at the others. "Perhaps we should split up, allowing us to cover more ground. We can communicate through Hodr." She nodded over to Jaune.

"Um, La Pucelle." He said casually.

"Oh, right." Weiss chimed. "I can try to communicate with Idunne as well. And since Jaune and I are the only ones who can sense enemy weaknesses, we should split with us on separate teams." She nodded to the others.

"So do we draw straws or…?" Yang looked around and shrugged. "I guess I'll be with Weiss, we haven't worked together in a bit." She walked over next to Weiss and stretched her arms high.

"I'll stay with Jaune." Pyrrha stated quickly. Ruby gave her a somewhat suspicious look, but Pyrrha quickly added "I would like to see how he's improved with this new Persona." Jaune smiled at Pyrra as she came to stand beside him.

"I'd like to stay with Jaune as well." Blake said with a nod. "I feel as though Freya will give some good firepower behind Baldr's shield and Jaune's analysis."

Ruby looked thoughtfully between Yang and Jaune. "I guess…" she then proceeded to point back and forth between them to a sort of rhythm while mouthing something. It took Jaune a few moments to realize she was playing 'eenie meenie miney moe'. Once she had done it so many times that Jaune wondered if she was creating new verses, she landed on Yang. "Guess it's me and you sis!"

Yang hugged Ruby as she walked over to the side, which left Weiss, Yang, and Ruby on one side; Jaune, Pyrrha, and Blake on the other. Penny looked at both sides with a moment of confusion as well, and then seemed to lock eyes with Jaune for a moment. She then stepped over onto the side with Jaune, Blake, and Pyrrha.

"This is where I am of the most assistance." She stated quickly, causing everyone to share somewhat worried glances. Could Penny have done some complex calculation in that moment that they were not able to see?

"Welp, guess we'll head this way." Yang said, pointing up the steps behind her team. "We'll keep in touch." She then started bounding up the stairs as she waved at the group behind them. Weiss nodded and headed off, with Ruby pulling up the rear. She turned and smiled and waved to the others, and Jaune couldn't help but feel her eyes lingered on him as he waved back.

"Right team, let's go." Jaune said, and he and the group headed up the stairs on the opposite end of the pit. Pyrrha headed up directly behind him, then Blake, with Penny in the back. Penny looked up at the sky for a moment before ascending the stairs, as though listening to something for a moment – like a dog perking its ears up. After a few solid seconds, she glanced back in the direction of Blake and the others and proceeded up the stairs.

"There's no way that thing saw us, right?" Mercury asked as he and Emerald stepped out from behind the golden column with the door that the group had just emerged from. "Your Persona kept us hidden, right?" He glanced over to Emerald, who nodded.

"There's no way. No one's ever seen through my persona's abilities before." As she said it, Mercury could see a bead of sweat making its way down her furrowed brow. "Now keep quiet, we don't know how well that thing can hear."

Mercury nodded, dropping his voice to an extremely low whisper. "I'll take ice queen, you take the newbie."

Emerald nodded, pulling her sickle weapon out from its sheath. She headed up the stairs behind Jaune, Penny, Pyrrha, and Blake. Meanwhile, Mercury went to hunt Ruby, Weiss, and Yang.

"I don't understand…" Adam said, looking up at Raven Branwen. They were standing out in the forest of Forever Fall, Muspell rising in the background under the sickly sky of the Grimm Hour. Raven adjusted her long black hair, and looked down to Cinder.

"We have a simple rule in exchange for this power, Adam." Cinder said casually, holding up a vial of dust. "You listen to us, you get to keep it."

"I was just… I want-" his voice was cut off as he felt sudden cold steel against his throat. Without warning, Raven's long, slender, curved red blade was pressed dangerously close to his neck. Adam did everything he could to keep his legs from shaking, mainly out of fear that any motion would mean a very quick demise.

"I don't care what you wanted." Raven said through narrowed eyes. "I took care of you, brought you into the fold, and you betrayed my trust." She looked to Cinder and nodded, and Cinder brought her hands together. She clenched her fist and her pupils dilated. As they did, the same fiery chains that held the shadow previously shot out of the ground, clasping around Adam's legs. He screamed in pain as he was pulled to the ground, the flaming bindings pulling him violently into the ground.

Raven pulled her blade back, sheathing it against her hip. Adam looked up at her and Cinder with fear. "Y-you don't understand, I was going to get that prick, I had him dead to rights, but he cheated! He his persona just got stronger! And-and…."

Cinder gently came down kneel beside him. She pressed a finger against his trembling lips, and he shut his mouth, eyes still widely looking between Cinder and Raven. "We don't like excuses here in Salem, Adam." She said quietly. "You must await Raven's judgement."

Raven looked down at Cinder, and down at Adam, then seemed quiet for a moment. In that dead silence, Adam couldn't even focus on the pain of his burning legs as Cinder kept her grip on him. He wondered how she did it with such control, using her Persona without it causing her any excitement or pain that he could see. It was as though the dust barely even mattered to her…

Raven turned and nodded grimly to Cinder. Cinder looked to the side, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. She then glanced back to Adam, whose mouth was open and whose eyes were wide as he tried to contemplate the meaning of the nod. "I-is it… do I get…"

"I wish I could say I'm sorry." Cinder said, looking up towards Muspell. She stood, looking down at Adam. "But that wouldn't be true." She clenched her fists and brought them together, and Adam started to move even more violently, trying to find any way out of his predicament. The flaming chains around his legs released, and Adam knew at that moment he had to run for his life.

He stood, and started to run as fast as his legs would carry him. He stumbled once from burning sensation the chains had left his legs as he headed towards Muspell. As he crossed the distance, Raven sighed to herself. She seemed to take a moment to look from the ground up to Adam as he became smaller in the distance, as though drawing a bead on him. Her eyes went wide suddenly for a moment, and her body shook as her Persona appeared behind her. A giant crow, seemingly carved from ruby, with a man's upper body seemingly attached to the bird's neck. Where Qrow's persona had a bow, Muninn carried two blades.

Crossed its arms in front of itself, and, without hesitation, unleashed its spell. As Adam ran, Cinder could make out the small circle of smoke forming under his feet. There was a very small, brief flash, and Adam stopped running. He collapsed into the ground some 50 yards away, and all Cinder heard was a dull thud as he hit the grass. She didn't have to check his body to know he expired – Muninn never failed to kill a target.

"Let that be a lesson, young one." Raven said casually as Muninn vanished from sight behind her. She put her arm on Cinder's shoulder as she walked past her. "To pick more competent friends." As Raven walked away, Cinder looked in the distance at Adam's body on the ground and back at Raven as she walked away. She simply closed her eyes and nodded slowly, and walked in step behind Raven.


	39. Chapter 38

"I must admit, she is rather impressive." Blake watched as Penny fired a dagger from her left wrist into a shadow that looked like the bottom half was a horse, and the top half was a humanoid with daggers for hands. On its bare chest was a bright red mask that had the roman numeral 7 on it. As the dagger pierced the shadow's chest, Penny shot forward in a straight line, coming off of the ground up to the shadow's chest. Another dagger popped out of her other wrist into her grasp, and she used it to decapitate the centaur shadow. As the centaur puffed into smoke, Penny turned to smile at Jaune and the others. She gave a simple salute.

"I'd say." Jaune said with his arms crossed. Penny was so efficient that he barely had to utilize La Pucelle. In fact, they'd barely had to summon their personas at all. If it kept up like this, it would be a walk in the park. The group made their way over a large collapsed marble column in their path and continued on their way.

Penny stopped and tilted her head, as she did every so often, then shrugged and continued on. "I wonder if it's a tick?" Jaune guessed. "Like something in her programming."

"I can assure you my programming is without glitches that affect my physical attributes. I am also not lagging in my processes. I am simply trying to pick up an auditory response." Penny chimed happily from 20 feet ahead of the party. Jaune blushed.

"Do you think there's something worth hearing?" Blake said as she caught up to Penny. As she said it, everyone started looking around.

"I don't see anything that seems threatening." Pyrrha looked to Jaune, who put his evoker to his head and called on La Pucelle. As her silver body manifested above him, Jaune's mind opened to the surrounding area.

"I don't see anything either." Jaune made a thoughtful face, then shook his head. "Wait, what's that?" He swore he could sense the rest of the party nearby. "I think we might be meeting up with Ruby and the others soon…" he paused. "Wait, what's this? Their readings are weak…"

"Weak?" Pyrrha inquired. "How so?"

"It's like they've spent a lot of energy… wait, I can sense it now! They're fighting something big! We have to go help them!"

The group took off in a dash, rushing over a pathway cut against an endless expanse of emerald colored grass.

* * *

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang stepped onto a raised, tarnished metal platform surrounded by what once must've been a vibrant garden, now dotted with dying grass and dead plants. As they did, a number of shadows appeared from around the platform, coming out of the ground. Their bodies seemed mostly humanoid, save their skeletons were on the outside. The black, skeletal masks on their head had the Roman numeral for 13 on them. As the shadows surrounded them, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake leaped into action.

"Big Bad!" Ruby called. Her faithful wolf-like persona appeared next to her, and drove forward into the horde, the small red cape billowing in the wind behind it. Three shadows fell immediately in a blur of fangs and claws.

"Weiss!" Yang called out as she grabbed a shadow by the arm, spun it in the air, and launched it toward Weiss. Weiss nodded with her evoker to her head. Idunne's glamorous form manifested immediately, blowing a kiss toward the incoming shadow. As it did, a small torrent of ice surrounded the shadow, freezing it in place and stopping its momentum. The shadow fell to the ground in front of Weiss as a frozen statue. With a snicker-snack of her rapier, Weiss cross-sectioned the shadow into pieces that collapsed into evaporating black particles.

One of the shadows managed to grab Ruby from behind, and she gasped. She felt a sudden sensation of being… drained. As though just through touch her spiritual energy was lessened. She spun with her scythe, knocking the shadow back. She followed up by dashing next to the shadow and bisecting it across its midsection. "G-guys, watch out! Don't let them touch you!"

Yang nodded, pulling her evoker out of its holster and calling on Sif. Sif's glorious golden hair fell around her body. She spun in place, and as she did a storm of lightning filled the area, striking down several of the shadows where they stood. "That ought to take care of them."

"We should preserve our energy, however." Weiss said as she back-stepped carefully away from an encroaching shadow, spinning on her heel and slicing its chest with her rapier. "I get the feeling there's a trick at play here."

Ruby ducked under a reaching shadow and cut its legs out from under it. The shadow fell flat on its back and suddenly found the tip of Ruby's scythe stabbing into the center of its chest. Another one down.

"We're almost done with them. Let's go for one more push." Yang nodded to Ruby and Weiss, who stood directly behind her. Only five of the shadows remained, their heads tilted to the side at odd angles, their backs hunched so that their arms nearly dangled to the floor.

Yang took point, her fists colliding with the mask of one of the shadows and sending it reeling. As the stunned shadow attempted to recover, it found itself sliced and diced by Ruby and Weiss. Each one of the Shadow Hunters covered the other – there was never an exposed spot for a shadow to strike. A moving, thinking, tactical tornado of blades and fists made its way through the remaining shadows with a practiced effortlessness. Whenever there was a gap in Weiss's defenses, Yang was there. When Ruby was striking, Weiss was parrying. The shadows, though their superior numbers, stood no chance against the teamwork displayed by the girls.

When the last shadow collapsed, Yang pumped her fist in the air. "That'll show ya!"

"Well done!" Weiss smiled, brushing away a bead of sweat. "We haven't fought together like that in ages."

"That. Was. Awesome!" Ruby high-fived her sister and beamed, her beaming smile slowly fading. "If a bit exhausting." She stretched. "Maybe we should take a quick break before we move on."

"I'm afraid there won't be time for that." The male voice that approached them was unfamiliar. A silver haired boy with black leather pants casually stepped onto the platform. "I'm afraid you missed that opportunity."

"Who the heck are-" Yang began, but there was a rush of air and force in front of her, and she immediately found the air leaving her lungs. Something collided with her stomach – hard – before she could respond. She found herself doubled over, eyes wide, collapsing onto her knees.

"Yang!" Ruby and Weiss called simultaneously. As Ruby rushed to help her sister, something knocked her feet out from under her and she went sprawling forward, barely catching herself on her hands and knees. Then, something collided with her back, sending her flat to the floor.

Weiss wasted no time in summoning her Persona. Through Idunne's sight, Weiss tried to spot what was coming. There was a sense that something was near, coming closer to her… Weiss spun, barely deflecting some incoming, invisible force with her blade. She quickly glanced around, spotting nothing but the endless expanse of pitch-black, starless, moonless sky.

"Oooh, impressive." Mercury clapped his hands together slowly. "Usually I have to slow it waaaay down for anyone to stand a chance against my Persona." He gave a cocky smile and put his hands in his pant pockets. "But what happens if we speed things up a bit?"

Before he had even finished speaking, Weiss realized something was about to hit her in the face – and it was coming too fast. It was like her body was moving in slow motion as she tried to bring her blade up, but she could feel the force colliding with her cheek. She spun in mid-air before sprawling in the ground next to Yang and Ruby.

"I had really hoped you would all put up more of a fight…" Mercury faked a yawn. "It's so boring when I don't even get to play a little. Here, I'll give you a chance to get up."

"You're gonna regret that." Yang said as she stood, evoker already to her head. "I can't even begin to tell you how much."

"By all means." Mercury slowly removed his hands from his pockets and put both arms forward, palms flat and facing up. Then, he brought his fingers closer to himself – gesturing like someone in a kung-fu movie. "Bring it on."

* * *

By the time Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake, and Penny got to the scene, it was too late. Ruby was flat on her face, a small pool of blood forming underneath her head. Jaune rushed toward Ruby's prone form. Pyrrha and Blake looked around nervously, weapons and evokers at the ready. Penny, for her part, tilted her head as though listening and looked thoughtful, keeping her eyes on Jaune.

"Ruby!" Jaune cried, sliding to his knees next to her. Using La Pucelle, Jaune attempted to examine her state. She wasn't gone yet, just very weak. "Don't worry Ruby, we'll heal you." He flipped Ruby over, and she coughed a bit of blood onto her cheek. He could see that the blood was coming from a large gash in the center of her chest.

"Freya!" Blake came up behind Jaune. She summoned Freya, whose Dia spell washed over Ruby's body in a sprinkle of light. As the healing magic took hold of Ruby, Jaune watched as she… didn't' get any better. Her life force remained the same - critically, fatally low.

"Ruby! What's going on!?" Jaune's eyes widened in panic as he scanned the area. They were on a circular marble floor, surrounded by lush green grass with the occasional flowers popping through. A couple of marble, toppled-over columns dotted the landscape, and an endless blue sky seemed to stretch on forever, dotted with the occasional pristine white cloud. It would've been a beautiful view were it not for the grim sight of their companion.

"Where are the others?" Pyrrha looked to the surrounding area but couldn't see Weiss or Yang anywhere. "Did they make it out?"

Ruby simply raised her arm, and pointed. When Jaune looked up, he could see the shadow approaching him. The shadow had a human silhouette – shorter than he was – only its arms ended in small, slender blades. Jaune glanced between the shadow and Ruby, and Ruby's eyes slowly closed. Ruby let out a long deep sigh and breathed her last. Jaune let his tears fall freely onto her face.

The shadow simply stood there, watching him expressionless with its mask – green and marked with a Roman numeral 10 - as he lay Ruby gently back down. As Jaune stood, his body was shaking. He pulled out his sword with one hand, evoker with the other, and pointed the tip of his blade towards the shadow.

"You will pay for this." He spat, and he rushed forward to strike.


	40. Chapter 39

Yang wiped some blood from her lip as she looked over at Mercury, who simply continued to smirk. She launched herself forward, only to feel a force collide with her gut, stopping her in her tracks. From there it was either luck or lightning-fast reflexes that let Yang block a blow to her face. As soon as she blocked the attack, she swung wide with both arms – hitting thin air. Another strike came against her right leg, and she nearly lost her footing. She planted herself, looking everywhere for the attacker.

Weiss furrowed her brow as she saw the strikes coming against her friend. She slowly stood, trying to use Idunne's power to pinpoint Mercury's persona. She knew now that it wasn't invisible – but it was very, very fast. Every now and then she would catch a glimpse of its form in her peripheral vision, but not enough to paint a clear picture.

Idunne simply wasn't enough.

Weiss cursed herself for her weakness. If only she were stronger, she'd be able to help. She'd be able to help… though, then again, she realized, she did have a way. As she lay on the ground, she reached into her evoker's holster – where there was a very small, hidden compartment in the rough leather. It was just underneath where the evoker would sit, small and innocuous. Unless you knew to look for it, you would just assume her holster was slightly thicker than average.

She popped the small compartment open and held her palm out as a small vial of orange liquid dropped into her hand. She glanced up to see Yang take another strike to her gut, and somehow she felt her own stomach drop out. She had to stop it. She had to save Yang.

So she glanced down at the small vial in her hand, the solution to all of her problems.

* * *

Penny brought her dagger up just in time to stop Jaune's strike. Metal clanged on metal as his weapon slightly rebounded from the assault. Penny's eyes went wide as she ducked underneath his follow-up attack – only to see Pyrrha coming in with her spear. Pyrra dropped prone as the spear stabbed through the space previously occupied by her head only a split second before.

Penny spun in place, bringing her legs sweeping around to knock Jaune off of his feet. Pyrrha, however, leapt over the attempted trip-assault and brought her spear down onto Penny. Penny's blade barely came up in time to deflect the very tip of the spear – but as Pyrrha pulled it back, she took some of the fabric of Penny's shirt with her.

Penny slid back, staring down Pyrrha as Jaune managed to stand. A ball of fire erupted next to her, and Penny saw Blake come into view between Jaune and Pyrrha. Penny furrowed her brow, looking at the three Shadow Hunters with her dagger up in front of her face defensively.

"I am sorry, but I do not understand your assault. I thought we were friends?" Penny looked back and forth between Pyrrha, Jaune, and Blake, and found only fury in their eyes.

Pyrrha put her evoker to her head and summoned Baldr. As his giant golden form bore down on Penny, she knew she had no choice. The spear charged her, and something clicked in the back of Penny's head. Before Baldr could strike her, there was a bright flash of blue light as Baldr's spear was deflected by a long, pointed blade. Penny's voice echoed as she called out, "Kvasir!"

Standing in front of Penny was a tall, thin man with a body that seemed to be carved of oak. He wore a loose-fitting red and white pinstriped robe that ended around his waist, where it met his pinstriped slacks. You could just see the wooden feet sticking out from underneath the edge of the slacks. His bare chest had a carving of a whale in it, causing it to look like a tattoo against his wooden flesh. His left arm had what appeared to be a martini glass half-filled with a clear liquid, and his right hand was empty.

His head was adorned with a simple read feathered cap. He wore a monocle over his right eye, and it rested against the blade that deflected Bladr's spear – a fiercely sharp, pointed sword that sat right between his eyes and above his lips where one would expect a nose to be. The blade itself was metal against the rest of his wooden body.

As soon as the persona deflected the attack, Pyrrha paused. She looked at Penny with a confused expression. Blake pressed the attack, launching another ball of fire with Freya. Penny rolled away from the fire, coming to a stand. She looked around at the grim, darkened sky and the floor. The wasn't sure what the source of the assault was, but she did know it only occurred after Jaune inspected the strange green-haired girl lying in the center of the chamber – and Penny's new objective became reaching that girl.

* * *

Ruby slowly came to kneel and watched as Yang's attempts to approach Mercury were all thwarted. She would take a step forward and suddenly find an attack from behind – then suddenly an attack from the front, all at impossible speeds. Mercury simply stood with his hands in his pockets. Ruby could see the dumb smirk on his face, and as if seeing her sister being pummeled wasn't enough, that caused the fire in her to roar ever brighter.

She pulled her evoker to her head and suddenly Big Bad was there, steam escaping from his massive fanged maw as he let out a low growl. Ruby spun her scythe into her left hand and stretched out her right, pointing defiantly at Mercury. Ruby suddenly vanished, blitzing forward in the same way she had when Fenrir first appeared.

Yang barely saw a red and gray blur pass her, rushing towards Mercury. The blur came within an inch of its target before there was a bright flash, and the blur was stopped short in its tracks. As Yang pulled her fists away from her face, she could see Ruby, scythe outstretched next to Big Bad's deadly sharp claw coming forward. They were being stopped by a humanoid figure floating in front of Mercury.

The figure was doing a full split with its 'legs'. The legs were each spinning chainsaws, sparks rushing out in all directions as it collided with Ruby's assault. The chainsaws lead up to a black, shadowy humanoid body that had no arms. There were two white eyes set against the black, and Yang met them as she rushed forward to join her sister.

Yang only took two steps before Mercury's persona spun, kicking back Ruby and Big Bad. They flew across the room, sliding next to Yang just as the persona disappeared from view, and Yang didn't see the strike coming against her legs, knocking them out from under near.

Weiss watched uselessly, breathing deeply as she looked from the Dust to her friends. Then from the Dust to Mercury. Thoughts rushed into her head of Idunne's awakening, of the aftermath. She promised she would never use it again – that she never had to feel like she was outside of herself again, that she was missing part of herself. As she lay there, she thought about how easy it would be… She could use the Dust and suddenly be as strong as Mercury.

Stronger, even.

She noticed, just after Mercury's persona knocked both Ruby and Yang back, there was a small bead of sweat forming on his forehead. He was struggling to use his Persona. Struggling in a way that Weiss hadn't had to struggle in a long while. For her, Idunne was her capable companion. Always there to assist her – and the Dust would hone her. Make their bond even stronger. It would just be so easy to crush him… so easy to save her friends… so easy to just take the Dust and help everyone.

An image flashed in her mind. She was smiling, looking up at Yang and Qrow. She had just joined the group, just decided to fight the Shadows. Just decided that she would do the right thing.

Weiss stood up. She let the Dust fall from her hand, and then she stepped forward, crushing the vial under her heel. The orange liquid splashed against the floor of Muspell.

Weiss was known for a lot of things, but taking the easy way out was not one of them.

Mercury winced slightly, putting a hand to his head. "That assault was something, but man, you gotta be a lot dumber than I thought." He watched as Weiss destroyed the Dust. "If that's what I thought it was, it was probably the only way you stood a chance. Three of you? That's no match for me."

Yang and Ruby were just coming to their feet, and Mercury walked forward. The invisible, lightning-fast force that was Mercury's persona struck the two of them again, knocking them back onto the floor.

"So princess, what do you think you're gonna do about it?" He gave his confident smirk again.

"Don't call me princess." Weiss said calmly, her rapier pulled forward. Then, she saw it. The form of Mercury's persona, the chainsaw legs against the torso coming straight at her from the right. Time seemed to slow as her evoker found its way under her chin. She didn't have a plan, or even the beginning of one, but she knew she wasn't going to back down. She wasn't going to fail, not here. She pulled the trigger just as the strike was coming against her.

"Call me queen!" As the blue fog surrounded Weiss, Idunne appeared to strike against the blow. The outstretched leg of Weiss's attacker rebounded against Idunne's form, which dissipated with a shattering sound. It immediately reformed in front of Weiss, forming a six foot tall sheet of glass set against a round, ornate, glamorous blue and white frame that was laden with diamonds. Suddenly, in the center of the mirror, a pair of dark eyes with luscious black eyelashes and white and blue eye shadow appeared, followed by a pair of ruby lips. The face in the mirror blew a kiss and then winked. Then the mirror spun in place and vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

Mercury winced as light seemed to reflect off of Weiss's persona's new form, more beads of sweat forming against his forehead as the strain of keeping his persona fighting took its toll on him. "Tch, cool trick." Mercury frowned. "But it's not gonna be enough. Thialfi!" Mercury's persona rushed once more at Weiss, but she could see much clearer now.

Weiss brought up her rapier in time to deflect one of Thialfi's legs, then stepped forward with another strike, pushing the other chainsaw-leg out of the way. She was on the offensive, striking at the torso of the persona as it struggled to find purchase – it was as though she was reacting to its actions before it even knew what they were.

She spun her rapier to the left and right, gaining ground against Mercury. As soon as she saw an opening long enough, she spun in place, putting her evoker to her head. "Fairest!" she called, and her new Persona took form ahead of her. Thialfi could see its reflection in the mirror as the face appeared again, blowing another kiss. This time it was accompanied by a torrent of icy wind, and Mercury watched as ice started to form around his persona's bladed feet, small patches of ice littering its body. Thialfi's movements began to slow significantly as its body froze over.

"No, no no no!" Mercury screamed, eyes narrowed. "You don't get to do this! I'm better than all of you!"

A syringe came out of his pocket and into his hands, the glowing orange dust shining against the gloom. He took the syringe and went to jam it into his arm, but just before he could, a small jolt of yellow lightning struck against the syringe, causing it to explode in his grasp. He stared in shock, then glanced up to see Yang standing with her evoker to her head, Sif floating in the air behind her, giant golden hair floating gently, onyx-like hand outstretched toward Mercury.

"I wouldn't, if I were you." Yang smirked despite the bruises on her face, her left eye swollen shut. "I hear that stuff's dangerous."


	41. Chapter 40

Blake called upon Freya, whose fiery assault was deflected by a humanoid, waving mass of black energy that was coming out of their shadow enemy. Nothing the trio was doing was getting through, and as they struck the shadow seemed to know precisely how to deflect all of their strikes. Pyrrha watched as the attack was absorbed, and took a moment to pause herself. She analyzed the battlefield as she had done so many times before.

She, Jaune, and Blake were striking at the shadow target that had apparently assaulted – and slain – Ruby. However, there was no sign of Weiss or Yang. In addition, she watched as yet another of Jaune's strikes went wide. The shadow parried it surely enough, but made absolutely no move to strike at Jaune's body, despite his swing leaving him wide open for a potentially fatal maneuver should the shadow choose to take it.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called as he rushed forward for another strike that the shadow expertly, mechanically deflected. "Something isn't quite adding up."

Blake, her evoker to her head, made eye contact with Pyrrha. Pyrrha was just… standing there. Blake watched her for a few moments, then suspiciously started eyeing the shadow's movements as well. The shadow seemed to be stepping away from Jaune, doing its best to avoid being assaulted and only bringing its arms up to defend itself when absolutely necessary. Jaune seemed to be the only aggressor, and even as his attacks slowed, the shadow seemed to make no attempt to take advantage of it.

"Jaune!" Blake lowered the evoker from her head. "Jaune, pay attention!"

Jaune heard their calls, and his attacks began to slow. He turned to see Pyrrha and Blake both standing there, making no move to join him in his attack. "What are you guys doing?!" he cried, "the enemy's going to defeat us if we don't move!"

"Jaune, look." Pyrrha pointed her hand straight toward the shadow, and Jaune's eyes followed her outstretched finger. The shadow was simply standing there, its body facing his. Jaune shook his head.

"But it killed Ruby!" he said, pointing to the body on the floor. "We have to defeat it!" His voice was rising higher, and he could feel the blood pounding in his head.

"Jaune, use your persona!" Blake called out.

Jaune looked down at the shadow, then pulled his evoker to his head. He fired – and only a moment later, La Pucelle appeared. Jaune used her power to examine the surroundings – and immediately saw what was wrong. Where the shadow had stood only moments before, Penny was standing in a defensive posture, eyes staring straight at Jaune.

"Oh- oh no! Penny, are you ok?!" Jaune immediately dropped his sword.

"Yes, I am fine!" Penny said enthusiastically. "You were not skilled enough to harm me!"

"Oh, thank goodness – wait."

Pyrrha chuckled lightly to herself, smiling at Penny. "Well, that settles that. Though…" she turned to where the fake Ruby's body was laying, just in time to see the room fill with a rainbow colored light – just as it had when Salem vanished previously. Gasps filled the room. The pillar grew slightly, and then disappeared – leaving Jaune, Blake, Pyrrha, and Penny alone on the platform.

* * *

Cinder's hood was pulled up over her head, and she was sitting in a small clearing against a frozen wasteland. She had a circle of candles around her, and her eyes were half-focused on the flames of one in front of her. She was breathing in and out rhythmically - and the flames seemed to move with her breathing. The candles continued to burn, despite the snow that seemed to stretch on forever. She opened her eyes after a few moments, and all of the candles burned bright - then erupted into pillars of flame, surrounding Cinder in a wall of flame. Then Cinder snapped her fingers, and the flames all vanished just as soon as they had appeared. Cinder smiled to herself, gently flexing her hand - an unused vial of Dust sat within it. She pocketed the Dust and stood to leave.

"Cinder…" Emerald said, appearing in a burst of rainbow colored light. She was clutching her head as she stumbled into view. Cinder stepped forward and gently held Emerald and helped her to keep her footing.

"Emerald…" Cinder pulled her hood back and wore her concern plainly. "Emerald, are you alright?"

"They figured it out…" She winced with the pain as she continued to keep her hands on her head, her eyes watering. "It took everything I had, but they still figured it out…"

"And Mercury?" Cinder knelt with Emerald, gently moving Emerald's head to her shoulder, one hand coming up to lightly brush through her hair.

"I… I… I could barely sense him being so far away, but right before I ran…" Emerald sobbed into Cinder's shoulder. "I sensed his spiritual energy vanishing… I think… I think they beat him."

Cinder took a sharp breath in, her hand stopping mid-brush. She remained quiet as Emerald's body shook, and then slowly slacked against her. Emerald took some deep, calming breaths, and after several moments her hands came from her head. The poor thing, Emerald's power was so immense- but even with the Dust it caused her so much pain.

Cinder put her hands on Emerald's shoulders and Emerald pulled away, wiping the wetness from her cheeks. She sighed, closing her eyes and continuing to breathe deeply, then she looked to Cinder. "S-so… what do we do now? What do we do without Mercury?"

Cinder's eyes glanced to the side as she breathed out. "We should let this be a lesson."

Emerald blinked, her forehead slightly furrowed. "A l-lesson?"

"To pick more competent friends."

* * *

"You'll never get away with this!" Mercury shouted as sat on the ground, Yang painstakingly tying his hands behind his back as Ruby and Weiss stared him down with weapons drawn. "Salem will come for me! You don't stand a chance!"

"Stop squirming." Yang slapped him across the back of the head with an open palm. "You're not going anywhere."

She knew it was true – Mercury was sweating profusely from a combination of the battle and the severe amount of Dust he must've used. After they subdued him, a cursory search of the area revealed two empty syringes that must've been full of the stuff. No wonder his persona was so amazingly strong.

"What are you guys up to, anyway?" Ruby said, gripping her scythe. "Why did you try to fight us?!"

Mercury spit. Weiss's rapier immediately went under his chin – she tilted the blade ever so slightly, and Mercury winced as he adjusted his neck to avoid being stabbed – he was forced to look Weiss in the eyes.

"It would be wise to answer her." Weiss couldn't help but smirk as she said it.

Mercury's eyes darted from left to right, then he closed his eyes and took a breath out. "F-fine. We know what you're up to. We had to stop you."

"Stop us?" Yang said, as she stood and circled around Mercury and stood next to Ruby and Weiss. "Stop us from exploring Muspell?"

"Don't play dumb!" He was shaking as he spoke, and Weiss pulled her weapon back to avoid a nasty accident. "Raven told us everything – how Ozpin's cronies would stop at nothing to eliminate all the guards and get to the core."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all exchanged confused looks, then all turned back to Mercury. His breathing was getting more ragged as he spoke, and dark shadows were starting to pop up under his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, then slumped over onto his side, his eyes closed. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all rushed to make sure he was ok. Ruby checked his pulse on his wrist and nodded to the others.

"He's alive." Weiss said, "but using that much Dust will take a lot of out the body. We should get him out of here."

Yang turned to Ruby, who nodded and then turned to Weiss. "Can you let the others know?"

"Um, let me try." Weiss pulled out her evoker. "FAIREST!" She called, and the face in the mirror appeared before her. Weiss felt that with her persona present, she could sense the others – she was picking up Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake, and Penny. Their forms all appeared in the watery glaze of the mirror, as though she was getting a bird's-eye view of the party. "Um, can you hear me?"

"Weiss?" Jaune's voice came through. His head turned every which way, trying to find the source of the voice. "Where are you guys? How's Ruby?"

"Well, I'm fine - for starters - thanks for asking." She put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Ruby's fine too, so is Yang. We defeated one of Salem's members, but he's out cold. We need to get him back to the dorms for questioning."

Jaune blushed and cringed slightly at Weiss's biting tone. "Um, right. Sounds good. We'll meet you back at the entrance."

* * *

Saturday, May 27th

"The core?" Pyrrha sipped lightly at her teacup as the Shadow Hunters gathered around the coffee table in the living room. Morning light was creeping through the windows as they sat in a messy array of pajamas – Blake, Jaune, and Ruby – and work-out wear – Yang and Pyrrha, with Weiss dressed in a casual outfit for the day.

"That's what he said. That Ozpin's cronies" – Yang gave 'Ozpin's Cronies' overdramatic air quotes – "would get to the core."

"Oh, and that we would eliminate the guards." Ruby chimed. "That felt kind of important too, like the shadows are protecting something."

"Interesting." Blake had a thoughtful look on her face. "We didn't actually get a chance to see what caused us to think Penny was a shadow. They vanished in that strange rainbow light before we could find out who it was."

"Well, I'm sure we'll have our answers soon enough." Jaune yawned and stretched lazily. "We've got that guy held up in Qrow's old room with Penny standing guard. He looked pretty messed up when we dragged him in."

"You can thank Weiss for that." Yang gave Weiss a casual bump on the shoulder, which Weiss immediately flinched from. "Miss new Persona over here."

"Oh?" Pyrrha's eyes lit up as she looked to Weiss. "Congratulations!" She clapped her hands together. "Our team seems to grow ever stronger by the day."

An uncharacteristic blush made its way to Weiss's face. "W-well, I had to do something! We were getting knocked around out there."

"It does feel much more difficult." Pyrrha said solemnly. "Fighting other persona users instead of just shadows…"

"Well, I'm not worried." Jaune said with a smile. "Together, we can handle just about anything."

* * *

"Ah, Mister Arc. I'm glad you could finally make time to join us again." Ozpin's voice seemed to give the impression he was smiling, even though Jaune couldn't yet see his face. Jaune glanced up to see the classroom nearly bursting to full. The dolls of Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake all stared ahead. Meanwhile, Penny and Yang's dolls were both face-down against their desks. "It's getting awfully crowded in here, if I may say so myself. So many bright young minds."

"Yeah, the party's really lighting up. It's been a while, huh?" Even though it'd only been a handful of days, it felt like it'd been months since Jaune had stood in the velvet room. He looked up to see Ozpin's familiar, slim, suited form as he sat at his desk. "So, I think the last time I was here, you were telling me about a snake."

"Ahh, yes. Jormangandr." Ozpin pushed his glasses back to his eyes. "The great serpent."

There was a silence that followed, and Jaune realized that Ozpin wasn't going to elaborate on his own. "Um, yeah. It's going to eat the world or something, and Salem wants to bring it into the world? But like maybe it's connected to Muspell?"

"Well, it is connected to Muspell; that is true." Ozpin nodded, his fingers bridged under his nose. "As I said previously, the great serpent exists outside of space and time as you might experience it. It would take a significant amount of power to put it into the world."

"Like… a huge place where shadows gather up together? That kind of negative energy?"

"Precisely." Ozpin stood and gestured to the chalkboard, which showed the word 'ENDGAME' in big, bold, blue letters. "If Raven is truly intent on bringing Jormangandr into existence, then it would make sense that Muspell would be where it would need to happen."

"But why would she want to do that?" Jaune put his hand to his chin. "It doesn't make sense, right? That someone who lives on the world would want the world to end?"

"Well, Mister Arc, suffering is a strange thing." Ozpin sighed. "When one suffers, one may want others to suffer as well. They may want them to hurt, to find pain. However, I do not believe that is what Raven wishes." Ozpin turned, leaving his back to Jaune. "I believe Raven desires nothing more than to put an end to suffering… to insure that none would have to experience the pain that she has."


	42. Chapter 41

Tuesday, May 29th

"Alright jerkwad, talk."

Yang was sitting on a wooden chair backwards, and Mercury could see his reflection in her aviator sunglasses. Yang's room was dimly lit by the morning light streaming through the window, and Mercury was handcuffed to the bed's headboard. A small plate sat on a bedside table, the food completely untouched. Mercury let out a deep breath and pretended to ignore his interrogator.

"Look, it's clear your friends aren't comin' for you." Yang gestured around the room. "And we're gonna take 'em out no matter what you say." She emphasized this point by pounding her fist into her open palm. "So if you talk, you'll make things much easier on you."

"You think you can take them out, huh?" Mercury chuckled lightly, looking lazily out the window. His body seemed… drained. His skin was more pale than usual, and was pulled tight against his bones. The fact that he hadn't eaten since they captured him didn't help, but he was looking rough by the time he was about to inject more dust into his bloodstream anyway.

Yang had been warned about this – overdosing on Dust could cause serious side effects. She believed the reason the food was left alone wasn't because he thought it was suspect – but because the drug had severely reduced his appetite.

"Well, after how easy we took out you and the other one, I'm pretty sure we can." Yang rolled her shoulders. "It wasn't even difficult.

Mercury's eyes went wide. "Wait, Emerald!" his gaze darted around the room. "Where is she?" He struggled slightly against his constraints as he rose his voice to something other than an disinterested sneer for the first time since his capture.

Yang was slightly taken aback. She took a moment to regain her composure, and grinned to herself. "Well, I guess if you can't cooperate, you'll never find out." She stood up and made for the door.

"Wait." Mercury narrowed his eyes at Yang from the bed. "I'll talk."

* * *

"How was your visit to the velvet room?" Pyrrha sipped gently at her tea as she glanced up at Jaune from across the couch. Blake was sitting across from them, writing something in her notebook and glancing over at her textbook. Ruby and Weiss were at their classes, leaving the three, Yang, and Penny to watch over their prisoner in shifts.

"Well…" Jaune massaged his head. "I talked to Ozpin, and… it doesn't add up. At least, I don't think it does. Oz thinks that Raven is doing it to stop everyone from suffering. I just… don't think that makes a lot of sense. How does summoning a giant evil serpent stop everyone from suffering?"

Blake glanced over her notebook. "From what I understand, she's been through quite a lot. It may be that her trauma is causing her to act in an irrational manner." Blake shrugged. "Sometimes, misery just wants company."

"Well, yeah, but to the point of ending the world?" Jaune scratched his head. "She used to be like us. Fighting shadows and exploring Muspell with Qrow. Why the sudden urge to bring it all to the ground?"

"Maybe she got frustrated." Blake drew a line through something in her notebook and turned the page. "It's a lot of work, what we do. It's only because there are so many of us that we've gotten this far. Imagine if there were half of us."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement, gently returning her teacup to the coffee table. "While she did have her brother fighting alongside her, she didn't have nearly as much support as we do." Pyrrha smiled up to Blake and Jaune. "I for one am thankful to count so many as my allies."

Penny walked into view, looking over the seated hunters. Not finding her apparent quarry, she gave a small wave. "Greetings. I see that Yang is not with you. I shall go find her." She marched upstairs in a not-quite-organic fashion.

"… as strange as some may be." Pyrrha chuckled as she watched Penny leave the room. Jaune chuckled with her, and even Blake joined in.

After the laughter died down, Jaune let out a deep sigh. "Oz also seems to think we're near the end." He stretched his neck back, looking up at the ceiling. "Which makes sense, I guess. We defeated three of the Salem goons, we've fought who knows how many shadows…" Jaune leaned forward in his seat. "We just have to finish them off and finish the rest of Muspell."

"The end, huh?" Blake had a thoughtful look on her face. "I almost can't picture it. This has been such a big part of my life since you rescued me from Adam."

"That seems like forever ago now, doesn't it?" Pyrrha said, looking over to Jaune. "Back when we were still just learning how to cooperate."

"Before I had La Pucelle…" Jaune said, looking at the back of his hand.

"Before I had Freya, even." Blake said, smiling into the air. "I'm just glad she's part of me now."

"I agree. I can hardly imagine life without Baldr." Pyrrha said, eyes closed. "These parts of us have grown as we have. Maybe not in as drastic a way as some of our allies' Personas have grown, but grow they still have."

A brief silence followed, punctuated by the sound of Yang descending the stairs with a wide smile on her face. "Alright gang, I've got some great news." She stretched her hands over her head. "The rest of Muspell is gonna be a breeze." A small silver chain dangled from her wrist, holding a glowing gem that seemed to sparkle with every color of the rainbow in the light of the room.

"W-woah." Jaune, Blake, and Pyrrha all moved over to Yang to inspect the stone. Jaune poked it with his finger, and it dangled in the air. "What is it?"

"It is a translocation device that will allow us to move through Muspell at a much more rapid pace." Penny said. Seeing the confused look on Jaune's face, she rephrased. "It will teleport us."

"My, that's convenient." Pyrrha said, looking the gem over. "Is this what Salem used to vanish when we encountered them?"

"It would seem so." Blake looked it over. "How does it work?"

"We have to be in Muspell, but…" Yang snatched Jaune's wrist and put the amulet in his hands. "Once we're there, you just have to focus on where you want to go, and it'll take us there. Mercury called it the Bifrost."

"The rainbow bridge…" Pyrrha nodded to herself. "A shortcut through Muspell."

"That seems easy enough." Jaune rubbed his forefinger over the gem. "So once we reach the end… we just have to stop them from summoning Jormangandr and we're done."

Yang nodded. "Just be careful. Mercury said that it's super draining to use. Everyone in Salem has one in case of emergency, but they have to be careful or you'll find yourself weakened and staring down a bunch of hungry shadows."

"Speaking of Mercury," Blake said, looking the group over as Jaune pocketed the gem. "What are we doing with him?"

"Oh yeah, I guess I hadn't thought of that…" Jaune looked at Pyrrha and Yang, who both shrugged.

"Perhaps someone from the Schnee company could collect them." Penny added helpfully. "They may be interested to see what the Dust has done to a subject. They may even have the tools to help fight his addiction to the substance."

"That's… actually not a bad idea." Blake said, looking the others over. "I still don't trust Schnee, but it's better than turning him over to the cops and admitting we kidnapped someone and tied them up in a room for days on end."

"True." Pyrrha said. "I'll contact Weiss and see if she has any ideas on the specifics."

The hunters all nodded to each other and went about their day - distracted by thoughts of endings, and what waited on the other side of those endings.

* * *

"Compromised." Raven sighed, massaging her temple with her hand. Emerald was on her hands and knees behind her, breathing deeply as her body shook. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed to be struggling to keep herself off of the floor. "And I'm only finding out about it now… why?"They stood in a large marble chamber punctuated by golden columns. A large, unoccupied golden throne sat to the rear of the room. A huge set of golden double doors stretched to the heavens next to them.

"I had to hide from the shadows." Emerald said, gulping down breath. "I couldn't use Bifrost after using Utgardaloki to make them fight each other so long…." She took a few deep breaths. When no one spoke up, she continued. "I couldn't fight them alone."

"First Adam, then Mercury." Raven looked at her open palm and clenched it into a fist. "Why can no one just do as they're told?"

Cinder stood next to Raven, looking at Emerald with a mix of concern and pity. "So we lost Mercury… but we should be able to proceed as planned." She gave Raven a meaningful look.

"B-but… if they got his gem." Emerald clenched her teeth, the pain evident on her face. "It will only be a matter of time before they show up to stop us…"

"Precisely." Cinder said with a smile. "Which means instead of transporting the guardians outside of Muspell…"

"We just have to gather the remaining ones together for those idiots to defeat." Raven chuckled to herself. "They'll do the last of it for us, and then…"

Cinder finished for her. "And then the power of the serpent will be yours."

"Well, lets get to work, then." Raven said, rolling her right shoulder. "We wouldn't want the little brats to show up before we're ready." She pushed at the golden doors, which swung open. Leading up to the door, a giant column of rainbow light stretched out into an endless abyss. She stepped onto the rainbow colored light and vanished. Cinder turned to Emerald with a gentle look on her face before following suit. The door came to a thudding close after their exit, leaving Emerald alone in the massive, empty room. She collapsed onto the floor and huddled herself close, shaking from the cold and the exhaustion before closing her eyes.


	43. Chapter 42

Friday, June 1st

As the strange not-quite-light of the Grimm Hour washed over the Shadow Hunters, they approached Muspell with a strange knot in their stomachs. The large arena, the huge portal before them, seemed to loom ever larger as they approached. Jaune gently massaged the Bifrost gem with his fingers, glancing at the other shadow hunters.

Ruby smiled to him and put a hand on his shoulder before heading off toward the portal. Next was Blake who nodded to him and patted him on his back. Then Penny, who saluted before continuing behind the others. Yang gave him a fist bump as she passed by him. As Weiss walked past she paused a moment, met his eyes, nodded resolutely, and continued. Last was Pyrrha, who stood beside him as their allies disappeared into the portal.

"It feels different, doesn't it?" Her head tilted slightly as she looked at him.

"It's strange to think this could be the last time we go into Muspell." He stared down at the gem, then up at the towering structure. "Almost like cheating. Like there should've been more."

"Well, it's not a matter of how many steps you take, Jaune." Pyrrha stood before him, placing a hand on each shoulder. Her earnest green eyes were gazing directly into him, as though she could see Jaune for everything he was. "It's a matter that the journey was made." She turned from him, back toward Muspell. She took one step, then two, then felt a tug at her hand.

"Wait."

She turned to see Jaune was holding her hand and blushing. He coughed slightly. "I just wanted to let you know." He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I know it's been a lot but… I just… I want you to know if we don't get out of this…"

Pyrrha chuckled gently to herself. She patted the back of his hand as she let herself go of his grasp.

"None of that, Jaune." She let out a long slow breath and let a soft smile fill her face. "We'll be fine. With all of us working together, rest assured that we'll do what we must to defeat Salem and return home."

"But-" he began, but Pyrrha had already begun walking away. He let out a large sigh, slumping forward. His head raised in time to see her figure disappear into the flaming gate of Muspell.

* * *

"Please, don't!"

As Jaune entered Muspell, his eyes widened as he stood in the stone hallway that made up Muspell's lobby. The various doors circled the chamber, and backed against the wall stood Emerald, hands raised in surrender as Penny, Pyrrha, Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss all stared her down with weapons drawn.

"I promise, I'm here to help." Emerald kept her hands raised as she swallowed a large lump in her throat.

"That doesn't seem likely." Penny stated. "I recognize you from our last encounter."

"Last encounter?" Jaune raised his eyebrow, looking from Penny to Emerald.

"She manipulated us into fighting each other. She is the reason you and Pyrrha attacked me." Penny kept her dagger drawn and narrowed her eyes at Emerald. Before she could strike, she found Pyrrha's hand grabbing her wrist.

"Halt, Penny." Pyrrha lowered the spear in her other hand. The rest of the Shadow Hunters followed suit, lowering their weapons - but keeping them handy, just in case. "Let's hear what she has to say."

"Thank goodness." Emerald sighed and let her hands fall, slumping her shoulders. "That was terrifying." She looked at the gathered Shadow Hunters and nodded slowly to herself. "My name's Emerald. I work for Salem, and I'm here to help you."

"Likely story." Weiss flipped her hair and levelled her icy gaze at Emerald.

"How can we trust you?" Yang stepped forward. "Especially after we just had to fight with you and your silver haired buddy." Yang raised her fists.

"I know it's hard, but let me explain." Emerald's hands went up again. "When you fought us before… when you fought Adam, me, and Mercury, we weren't following orders." Emerald looked right at Blake as she mentioned Adam. "We were told not to interfere with you guys fighting the Guardians."

"Guardians?" Jaune looked to Ruby with an inquisitive look on his face. Ruby shrugged.

"The giant shadows at the end of each chamber. That's what we call them, Guardians."

"What are they guarding?" Blake crossed her arms. "What's to protect here in Muspell."

"They're here to stop someone from unlocking the power of the serpent, Jormangandr." She glanced at the furrowed brows of the Shadow Hunters. "If we defeat all of the guardians, then one person can obtain his near infinite power."

"That doesn't add up." Ruby tilted her head slightly. "I thought Muspell was keeping Jormangandr trapped. You guys are trying to free him."

"Uh, no." Emerald shook her head. "Why would we want to end the world? Raven just wants to help people."

"Help people?" Yang punched her fists together. "Then why did she stop teaming up with Qrow and the others? Why did she just run away?"

"Because Ozpin kept getting in their way. He kept running them in circles, constantly defeating shadows but never making any real progress." Emerald sighed. "Raven's already extremely strong. With Jormangandr's strength, she could make some real change in this world."

"Like what?" Ruby said. "All she's done so far is hide away while we've handled all of her problems."

"Put an end to the Grimm Hour once and for all, for starters." Emerald said. "She's tired of Ozpin using people…" she looked at everyone in the room. "Using kids to keep fighting shadows."

"Why would Ozpin be against the end of the Grimm Hour?" Jaune rubbed his temples. "He's only helped us all get stronger to fight shadows."

"And what happens when you beat those shadows?" Emerald made eye contact with each of the Shadow Hunters in turn as she spoke. "You just get to the next stage, fight more shadows, and it keeps going." She gestured to the doors on the walls, marked with Roman Numerals. "They never actually end, you know."

She tapped the one behind her, marked XII. "Raven figured that out after she left. They just keep renumbering themselves, opening to different worlds, and cycling through a never ending pit of shadows."

"But what about the guardians?" Yang took to leaning casually against the wall. "If Raven is so strong, why didn't you guys just take care of them?"

"Dust. At least, that's the best that we could figure." Emerald shrugged her shoulders. "For some reason, when someone who uses Dust to access their persona fights a Guardian, the Guardian doesn't die. We noticed when you guys started fighting them that they stopped coming back."

"So you guys needed us to kill the Guardians so Raven could get her power." Blake mused. "Then why did you try to fight us?"

"Adam was… unhinged. He was obsessed with beating you guys into the ground." Emerald sighed. "As for the rest of us…" Emerald held her arms across her chest. "We were jealous."

"Jealous?" Yang tapped her head. "Of us for fighting our way through hordes of monsters and running ourselves ragged?"

"For just…" Emerald stared at the ground hard. "You didn't have to struggle like we did. You could just fight shadows and be friends and be heroes. We didn't have that luxury." Emerald leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. "I have to hide from shadows. I can't fight them at all. Mercury can, but he has to use so much Dust that he's barely the same person any more. Raven gets severe headaches from prolonged fighting, and Cinder…"

"Cinder…" Jaune thought of the dark haired woman they met right after… right after Qrow died. The girl with fire in her eyes.

"She threatened us." Pyrrha added. "She said that we would incur more tragedy if we entered Muspell. She wanted us to never come back, and said that Salem would do all it could to deter us."

"We didn't want Raven to get Jormangandr's power... at least, not yet. We wanted the Grimm Hour to keep going." As Emerald spoke, she started walking in small circles as the group looked on. The tapping of her boots on the stone floor echoed throughout the chamber. "We figured if we scared you off, we could keep our powers. We could keep feeling powerful with our personas. Mercury even picked up a side gig... but that's another story."

Emerald held up her own Bifrost gem, letting the rainbow shimmer reflect off of it. "Let me take you to the last of the Guardians. You can fight them, and we can finally put an end to Muspell and this whole mess."

The Shadow Hunters all shared meaningful glances. There was a long pause as no one stepped forward to accept her deal. Finally, Jaune stepped towards her. "I think we can trust her." He said finally.

"It sounds like a trap." Blake chimed. "What if she just drops us in the middle of a group of deadly shadows?"

"I am prepared to deal with any threat." Penny said, raising her arm to a fighting stance again. "None of the shadows will hurt my friends!"

"I'm with Jaune." Pyrrha said, stepping up next to him. "Should this be a trap, I believe we are all strong enough to overcome it."

"Plus, if we want to put an end to this whole mess…" Yang stretched her arms above her head. "This might be the fastest way. Plus, until we talk to Raven, we'll never know what's really up."

"Yang's right. We have to find out what Raven's up to, and we'll only really get that from the source. Even if it is a trap, we could get closer to Raven." Ruby stepped forward to join those gathered around Jaune.

"Fine." Weiss sighed, stepping forward. "But just know that I have a bad feeling about this." She nodded to Blake who reluctantly joined with the group, clearly outvoted in her concern.

"Great. With all of you fighting together, this should be a cinch." Emerald placed the gem around her neck and closed her eyes, exhaling deeply as she did so. She held her hands to her head and groaned in pain as the gem began to glow brighter and brighter, enveloping Emerald's body in its multi-colored light. The light slowly spread over each member of the group in turn, basking them all in its glow. Then, as soon as it appeared, the light vanished, leaving the lobby of Muspell empty of all life.


	44. Chapter 43

Tuesday, August 15th

"Pietro, she's not quite like the others."

Dark-skinned face and bushy beard illuminated by the blue glow of the monitor in front of him, Pietro Polendina turned in his chair to see a tall, slim man with a yellow turtleneck under his labcoat. The man played with the ends of his bushy mustache, leaning casually against the frame of the door as he spoke.

"That's not the first time I've heard that one, Arthur." Pietro rubbed at his temple, glancing up at the screen. Several faces appeared before him – a young, bright eyed girl with green hair. A silver-headed young man with a bored expression. The daughter of the man funding their project, face stern and serious – and finally the amber-eyed girl who seemed to display no emotion whatsoever. She had been a topic of debate for some time now – and he must be the one Polendina's colleague was referring to.

"Her control is astounding." Arthur continued. "Despite such a small dose of Dust, she's capable of such… destruction."

"There's such a thing as too much power, Watts." Polendina clicked through the screens to find the files of their two previous subjects – the Branwen twins. As the young faces of Qrow and Raven stared at him, a red [MISSING] appearing over Raven's face, Pietro turned to Arthur. "We still don't have any idea where our last most promising student ran off to."

"I'm sure her brother will turn her up in no time. For now, we need to get this girl in for some real tests…" Arthur looked behind him, glancing back and forth as though to make sure no one were listening. " _Field_ tests."

Pietro's eyes widened with shock. "How could you even suggest such a thing?" He stood, glancing around frantically, also to be sure no one could hear. "Field tests are months away, at best. The approval process alone could take weeks."

"But think of what we could do with that information!" Arthur cut his arm through the air. "Now is not the time to be idle while the CEO plays scientist. I know she's ready, and I can prove it. Why waste another minute while those blasted shadows run amok? Why let there be more victims to the Grimm Hour when we have the perfect weapon right here?"

Pietro closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a moment. He nodded, slowly. "It pains me to admit it, but you may be right." He looked back at the faces of the Branwen twins, their red eyes meeting his. "Perhaps if we had done this sooner for them, things would have turned out differently."

"Then it's settled." Arthur stepped away from the door frame and smiled at his colleague, and Pietro could not help but catch the glint in his eye. "We take the girl to Muspell. Tonight."

* * *

As the colossal shadow fell before her, Cinder let her shoulders relax. She looked down at her right hand, flexing the fingers experimentally as the telltale flames of her Persona licked up around her. She waved her hand gently, and the flames vanished. The black particles that were once the shadow's body filled the empty chamber around them, and Cinder turned to meet the gaze of a wide-eyed Watts and Pietro. Her expression betrayed no emotion – just a calm serenity despite the massive feat she had just accomplished.

"A… guardian…" Pietro said breathlessly.

"And by herself, no less…" Watts and Pietro shared quick glances. "I must say, my girl, that even we could not have expected you'd accomplish this much."

Even at this, the girl's expression did not show the joy Arthur would have expected. She did, however, seem to have a thoughtful look on her face as she examined the surrounding area. They were in what appeared to be a large cave, on a small bridge made of stone. The bridge was lit by the circular blue stones spaced throughout, and there were two tall trees with small lights across them. Between the trees, on the far end of the chamber from Arthur and Watts, was what appeared to be a small opening – a gateway into the next chamber.

"We'll have to run more tests, of course." Arthur continued, his voice rising. "But you could be the answer to all of our prayers."

"Once we get you back to the lab," Pietro said, "We'll examine your efficiency levels and-"

"I don't believe I'll be going back." Cinder's voice pierced the chamber. It echoed briefly throughout, bouncing off of the cave walls.

Confident expressions were immediately replaced by worry. Arthur and Pietro shared a meaningful glance as Pietro took a step forward. "Now, let's not be hasty." He said. "Surely you can't mean to put an end to all of the hard work you've done."

"I'm done working." Cinder started confidently strutting toward the gateway. "It's time to play." As her face turned to meet Arthur and Pietro's gaze, a smile crept across her face. A spark had been lit behind her amber eyes, and they burned with a passion that neither had seen in her before.

"Now see here!" Arthur stomped his foot on the ground, pointing at the spot where Cinder had been standing only moments before. His eyes widened as he was met with only his own echo. Pietro, face ashen, knees shaking, turned to Arthur, who matched his expression. She had already proceeded to the next area.

They both shared a few moments of staring at each other in abject terror before Pietro dared put words to what they were both thinking. "What do we do now?"

"We have to go after her." Arthur started to walk, but felt Pietro's hand on his arm before he could even finish his step.

"We've no Personas of our own, Arthur." Pietro swallowed. "If we don't leave now, we'll be devoured by the Shadows. It's only thanks to the Dust Implant that we're able to experience the Grimm Hour at all."

Arthur clenched his fist and glared where Cinder had only just been. With an agitated huff, he pushed Pietro's hand off of his arm and started marching toward the exit. Pietro raised a concerned glance toward the gate the girl had just passed through. A brief second passed before Doctor Polendina followed after his colleague.

* * *

Wednesday, August 16th

Jacques Schnee, CEO of the Schnee Corporation, was pacing in front of Pietro and Arthur with a stern expression on his face. His perfectly tailored white suit and slicked back white hair matched the clean white walls of the padded room they were in. They stood in a dormitory – one of the housing units they kept each individual specimen in.

"I hope you realize…" Jacque footsteps echoed throughout the room as he spoke, "That this represents a significant loss in investment for me." His gaze met Arthur's. Arthur clenched his teeth – and his fist. "I paid to house these children, feed them, paid your salaries, all so we could find some manner by which to effectively end this Grimm Hour. I even offered my own daughter for experimentation once it was shown she had the aptitude for dust."

Pietro and Arthur shared a concerned glance.

"And just as all of my hard-earned dollars are about to bear fruit, you…" in the pause, Jacques took a moment to examine the back of his hand, checking his nails. "You LOST…" he punctuated the word by slamming his fist against the wall. Despite the padding, the force of the blow was enough to cause a 'bang' to reverberate through the room. "our most promising subject."

"W-well, that m-" Pietro started.

"I wasn't finished." The CEO continued, staring daggers at the scientists. "This is after the last experiment of yours – the one with the twins – failed due to another promising subject going missing. Which means that two of our strongest Dust users, two of our strongest weapons against the Shadows, are nowhere to be found. Is that correct?"

"You don't understand! Without a field test there was no way-" Arthur raised his voice, only to be cut short by Jacques raising his even higher.

"No way? None whatsoever?" Jacques Schnee stepped within inches of Arthur's face. "There are protocols! Procedures! Methods by which you could have requested a field test be done in proper order. Instead, you decided to take a child into Muspell, watched only by you two idiots, just to prove a point."

Neither Doctor Polendina nor Doctor Watts dared speak. They continued to exchange worried glances as their CEO headed to the back of the room. Jacques placed his head against the padding of the wall and let out a deep sigh.

"What of our other subjects?"

"Your daughter is the most promising combatant remaining." Watts said clinically. "The young boy requires far too much Dust to manifest his Persona to be efficient, whereas the other young lady's abilities are… interesting, for certain, but nigh useless in combat situations."

"I've let you idiots take this far enough." Jacques' footsteps tip-tapped through the room as he made his way for the door. As he stood at the threshold, he turned. "All of your projects are to be cancelled effective immediately. The children are to be released, and I'll be taking back my daughter."

"But the other two are orphans," Polendina held up his hands, a concerned expression in his eyes. "Where will they go?"

Jacques waved his hand nonchalantly as he left their view, his voice cold. "That's none of my concern."

* * *

Thursday, August 24th

"Your bleeding heart got the better of you." Doctor Watts crossed his arms and he leaned once again against the doorway to Pietro Polendina's office. "It was bad enough you let them stay here for the remainder of the week, but the rest…"

"They're children, Arthur. I couldn't just leave them on the streets with nothing." Piedro sighed. "They needed something to defend themselves in the Grimm Hour."

"Schnee won't be happy if he ever learns how much Dust you gave them. It's not exactly cheap to produce." Watts played with the tip of his mustache as he spoke. "Though I suppose he'll have no choice but to take it in stride. We have better things to work on."

"What do you mean? All of our projects were cancelled." Pietro sighed as he looked at the box of his belongings he had begun placing on the desk.

"Correct, and per his last message…" Watt's reached over Pietro and with a few keyboard taps, pulled up a message with the Schnee Corporation's tell-tale snowflake emblem. "'All Projects utilizing live subjects in Schnee Laboratory SH4D-0W are hereby terminated. Failure to comply will be met with the harshest penalties, up to and including termination.'"

"What are you getting at, Watts?" Pietro leaned back and sighed. "That sounds fairly definitive to me. Besides, I've already put in my request to move to another department."

"I'd highly recommend you rescind that request. After all, we have an old passion project of yours to revisit."

Pietro gave Watts a concerned look as Watts continued to tap on the keyboard. After a few more strokes, Pietro's eyes lit up. He glanced from Watts to the screen, then to Watts again. There, displayed against the blue light of the monitor, were a set of schematics in the shape of a humanoid girl, labelled at the top as 'The Geppetto Project'.

"I believe," Pietro smiled, "that I will rescind that request after all."


	45. Chapter 44

Friday, June 1st

Jaune was surprised at how effortlessly his blade cut through the wolf-like shadow. What had once felt like a fight for his life suddenly felt routine – exploit the shadow's weakness, eliminate the target, and move on to the next area. His senses were getting better too – as the boar –like shadow came behind him, he turned in time to bash it with his shield, stunning it in place as Pyrrha speared it from above.

He surveyed the battlefield – Freya was floating above Blake and next to Yang, a green light healing a small scrape on Yang's shoulder. Yang smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Weiss and Penny were both slashing through a huge bear-like shadow simultaneously. The shadow collapsed on itself, disappearing into the black grain-like substance that vanished into nothingness.

This area was made of a multitude of platforms switching in and out of each other, inside what appeared to be a gargantuan tower – however, the walls seemed almost as though they were made of wood – like they were maneuvering inside a giant tree. The platforms themselves were flat stones, constantly shifting in shape and size. As they twisted and turned, there was a sense of ascension – that with every platform they moved to, they were getting higher up the tree and further from the ground.

"Didn't you say you were taking us directly to the guardian?" As they cleared all of the shadows off of this particular platform, Weiss sheathed her blade and turned to Emerald. "This is getting tiresome."

Emerald shrugged and gave a bit of a sheepish smile. "Sorry, the base of the chamber is the closest I can get you. This guardian is… particularly frustrating to track."

"And you said it's one of the last two remaining, right?" Blake added, watching as the platform they were on moved against the wall. There was a small outcropping – like a giant leaf set against the wall as a platform – that the group moved onto. The ground felt soft and spongy, and it was a nice respite from fighting shadows on the ever-moving platforms. The party moved off of their current platform and onto the giant leaf before Emerald continued.

"Yes. Then that's it – no more Grimm Hour." She looked downcast as she spoke.

Jaune put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for helping us through it. I know it's hard on you." He turned to the rest of the party. "Honestly, I'm a little bummed that the Grimm Hour is ending myself."

"We'll still have each other when it's all over." Ruby chimed happily. "Just because we're not going to be killing Shadows anymore doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

"Agreed." Pyrrha softly smiled, stepping next to Jaune. "I'm not going anywhere." She turned to the rest of the group, spear in hand. "The thought of ending the damage the Grimm Hour does to people should make us happy."

"Elated!" Penny chimed, watching the next platform start to descend toward their current location. "It looks as though there are only two more platforms to the top."

"It's almost time." Emerald swallowed as the platform came into view. "Once this platform hits the top, the next shadow will be waiting for us."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Yang stepped off of the leaf and onto the platform "Let's go."

The group moved in full onto the platform behind Yang. Once they were all there, a small rune in the center of the platform let off a gentle orange glow, and the platform began to ascend into the air. Emerald fidgeted lightly with her hands as they began to ascend.

"What will you do?" Ruby's bright voice and infectious smile were right next to her. "When this is all done, I mean."

"I… hadn't really thought about it." Emerald said, eyes fixated on the next platform. "Mercury and I were on our own before we joined Salem… we don't really have anywhere else to go."

"What if you joined us?" Ruby gestured to everyone else – Blake seemed to be laughing at something Yang had said. Penny stood perfectly, eerily still – perhaps doing some kind of system check? Weiss was running a cloth along her rapier. Jaune was staring at the next platform with a thoughtful look on his face – while Pyrrha stared at Jaune with a similar expression.

"I'm… not so sure that would work." Emerald said with a sigh. "After everything that's happened, doesn't that seem kind of… boring?"

"It's more fun than it sounds." Ruby giggled to herself. "Everyone is always getting up to something… sure, some of the teachers are boring, and some of the homework is awful, but…" her silver eyes shot throughout the Shadow Hunters, "there's never a dull moment when you're with your friends."

"Friends, huh?" Emerald smiled slightly, "I guess… that does sound nice."

The platform suddenly stopped ascending, locking itself into place next to the final platform. They were near the top of the inside of the tower – the ceiling above them depicting a mosaic of a great tree whose branches connected to nine multicolored spheres, save one that was pitch black. The shadow hunters all drew their weapons to stare down the next platform which they found… completely empty.

"What's the big idea?" Yang stepped onto the platform and cracked her knuckles together. "I thought you said the final shadow was here?"

"Let me take a look." Jaune put his evoker to his head and fired. La Pucelle appeared behind him, and he could sense his surroundings as though they were a part of him. He could tell that the Shadow Hunters were in pretty decent shape – Blake was somewhat low on energy from keeping the party in tip-top shape, but otherwise there were no concerns… but despite his searching, he couldn't seem to find the Shadow.

"Let me help." Weiss stepped up next to Jaune and summoned Fairest. The mirror appeared before her, and its glossy eyes winked as the face within the mirror vanished. The mirror displayed a map of the current area, with small dots representing each member of the party on the platform. There was a large red dot that usually indicated a shadow – and it appeared to be at their current location.

"It says it's… right on top of us?" Weiss' confused voice shot through the Hunters, who all looked up in unison – just in time to see the black sphere of the mosaic above them… wiggle?

The sphere shook once, twice, and then fell from its place on the ceiling, descending towards the hunters and their platform like a giant cannonball.

"Everyone! To me!" Pyrrha cried, and in that split moment her evoker was in her hand. As the gunshot echoed throughout the chamber, Baldr was there – giant shield up and at the ready. A small barrier surrounded the party behind the Persona and shield as the massive projectile came hurtling towards it.

The black sphere collided with Baldr's shield, and Pyrrha groaned. Jaune – his senses assisted by La Pucelle – saw Baldr's strength immediately diminish. Baldr's shield shattered as though it were made of glass, and his barrier with it. Then, Baldr vanished in a puff of blue smoke. Pyrrha gasped in pain and held her head, falling to the ground.

Bouncing off of the impact, the black sphere went a few more feet into the air and then fell onto the platform. As it fell, it unrolled itself to reveal what appeared to be a giant black squirrel, a mask on the tip of its tale. As it unrolled, Jaune's vision and Weiss's mirror both displayed a 3-D image of the Shadow, along with the name 'Murderous Ratatoskr'.

"I've got you Pyrrha!" Jaune said as he ran up next to her, grabbing her by the waist and moving her away from the giant monster. He shuffled back, only to almost fall off of the side of the platform. He caught his footing and looked back – and down. He could only barely make out the floor in the midsts of all the moving platforms – a fall from this height was, without a doubt, fatal.

"I'll… I'll be fine…" Pyrrha groaned through gritted teeth as she lay on her side. "Help the others."

Jaune stared at her for a long moment, then closed his eyes and nodded. He ran toward the Shadow just as its massive claw came down on Yang, who barely brought her arms up in time to protect her face. Yang slid back hard from the strike, holding her ground as she spun to summon Sif. Sif's golden locks appeared, and as Sif raised her arm a bolt of lightning struck the Shadow – having seemingly no effect.

"Blake, give me a boost!" Ruby called, then she cried "Sukukaja!" Big Bad appeared behind her, and a blue light enveloped her body.

Blake nodded. "Tarukaja!" she shouted with her Evoker under her chin. Freya appeared, and a gentle red light enveloped Ruby…. Who then took off toward the shadow so quickly that she was a barely visible red blur.

"Kvasir!" Penny's voice echoed as her blade-nosed Persona appeared before her, striking at the Shadow with a flurry of blows. As the blade struck the shadow from behind, the front of the shadow was met with a series of red slashes that could only be Ruby and her Persona striking at lightning speed.

The Shadow let out a cry of pain and spun its massive tail, battering Penny and Ruby away from it. The two hunters flew through the air… and off of the platform.

"RUBY!" Jaune shouted, rushing towards the edge. He heard a whizzing sound next to his ear and turned to see a dagger jutting out of the stone. Penny's arm wrapped around Ruby as they fell, disappearing into the abyss… and then Jaune heard a 'whirr' as a barely visible string pulled Ruby and Penny toward the dagger. They came to the edge as Jaune helped them up.

Ruby gasped for breath as Penny stood, her dagger – and the accompanying wire – retracted into her wrist.

"Let's… not do that again." Ruby gasped, and Jaune nodded, turning to see how the rest of the group was faring against the Shadow.

Yang had made it onto the massive squirrel's right shoulder, and was unleashing a series of punches directly into the side of the Shadow's head. The shadow brought both of its claws up to her, smashing them together to grab her – but as they did, Yang summoned Sif. Sif's golden strands of rope-like hair tied around the shadow's approaching left arm, and Yang – holding onto Sif's hand – swung around the Shadow's body, using the momentum to fling herself onto the Shadow's left shoulder, where she continued her assault.

Meanwhile, Weiss had Fairest before her. The face in Fairest's mirror blew a kiss toward Ratatoskr, and a stream of icy wind struck the ground beneath the squirrel's feet. Blake rushed up next to her and nodded.

"Yang, hop off!" Blake cried. Yang turned and nodded, leaping off of the Shadow. As she fell toward the ground, she fired her Evoker in mid-air. Sif appeared once more, catching Yang in a tangle of golden strands. Yang landed against Sif's body, and as Sif collided with the ground she vanished, leaving Yang coming up in a rolling tumble before standing next to Blake and Weiss.

Blake fired her Evoker and Freya was there, firing a massive ball of fire right into the shadow's face. As the fireball collided with the Ratatoskr, the massive shadow was pushed back – losing its footing on the sheet of ice that Weiss had just created around its feet.

As it struggled to keep its footing, Jaune, Penny, and Ruby rushed forward. Big Bad, Kvasir, and La Pucelle all manifested ahead of the trio. Their Personas – claws and blades outstretched – collided with the chest of the massive beast. The momentum of their strike – combined with the already unstable hold the shadow had on its footing – sent the shadow sliding across the ice on its back, and over the platform.

As the shadow disappeared from view, the hunters all looked at each other, breathing heavily… there was a brief silence, punctuated only by their gasping breaths. There was a small chime, and with a soft orange glow a rune lit up within the stone, and then the platform started to ascend.

"W-we… we did it…" Jaune sighed heavily. "We did it!"

"… I can hardly believe it…" Emerald said, looking from the edge of the platform. "You actually took it out."

"I knew we'd… succeed…" Pyrrha said, a pained expression on her face. She slowly moved into a sitting position from where she had been laying on the ground.

"That was scary for a second there." Yang said, rolling her shoulder. "But nothing we couldn't handle."

As the platform ascended, the mosaic above them cracked open as the tree was split in two. The ceiling opened completely, the two halves sliding into the walls of the tower, to show the bottom of a narrow stone bridge behind it that stretched from the center of the room to the wall. Jaune smiled as the group went around using the last of their energy to heal whatever wounds they may have sustained.

As the platform locked into place, connecting to the bridge, the group all turned to Emerald.

"So, we'll rest up back at the dorm for a day or two, then head on to the next one." Jaune nodded towards her. Emerald's eyes widened as he spoke, and he just gave a carefree smile. "It'll be fun!" Jaune put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we have a place for you to stay."

"Do you now?"

The dark, sultry voice came from behind Jaune, and Jaune realized that Emerald's wide-eyed stare wasn't for him – it was for the young woman standing on the bridge. Her hood was pulled back, revealing her dark hair and amber eyes. Cinder was standing on the bridge, staring down the Shadow Hunters. She looked at the group, locked eyes with Emerald…

And smiled.


	46. Chapter 45

"Cinder…" Emerald's voice sounded weak as she looked through the Hunters toward Cinder. Cinder began a slow, steady approach towards the Hunters, who in turn drew their weapons. Ruby stepped to the front of the hunters, spun her scythe in an arc, and extended it towards Cinder.

"Back off!" Her voice rang loud and clear. "There are way more of us than there are of you!"

As Cinder continued her approach, flames licked at the ground near her feet, danced up her body, and into her hands. "That's true…" she looked at the fire as it played along her fingertips. "For now." She extended her arm. "Logi!"

The fire expanded above and behind her, manifesting itself into a semi-humanoid form. Starting at the torso, a cyclone of flame shaped itself into broad shoulders and long arms, with a muscular neck and a bald head. The 'face' had no features, though a pair of eyes and a mouth seemed to circle around the persona's head, detached from the body. The mouth and eyes seemed locked in a pained expression. Every so often they would line up to form a mask of anguish before disconnecting, spinning in opposite directions.

Around the persona's neck sat rough black chain, wreathed in flame. This chain extended into Cinder's waiting hand, where it wrapped itself around her extended forearm. The chain then continued to extend past Cinder, straight towards Ruby's scythe. It whipped violently at the weapon, causing Ruby to lose her balance just as a ball of fire erupted from Logi, straight towards Ruby's unprotected form.

Yang managed to catch her sister with her body, both of the girls flying onto their backs and landing near the edge of the platform. Jaune watched to be sure they weren't going over the ledge, then turned his full attention to their enemy. Penny, Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss formed a line behind him, weapons and evokers at the ready.

"We don't have to fight, Cinder." Jaune's voice shook slightly as he said it… he wasn't sure if it was La Pucelle telling him, or just a feeling in his gut – but something about Cinder scared him. It made his knees want to shake. A very old and primal instinct in his brain was telling him to flee.

"I hardly see the fun in that." Another shot of fire erupted towards Jaune, but before it could strike him, Pyrrha was in front of him, Baldr's shield protecting them both from the blast.

Pyrrha turned and gave a weary smile to Jaune – clearly exhausted from the strain after the assault her persona took from the previous shadow. Jaune gave her a thankful nod, put his Evoker to his head, and summoned La Pucelle. As she floated behind him, her gaze granted him sight of his enemy –

Or tried to.

Where Cinder should've been, Jaune's vision was covered only in a blazing flame. He couldn't make out any of her – or her persona's – stats, strengths, weaknesses… nothing. He was fighting blind. He grasped his head and screamed in pain as the fire seemed to burn at his very eyes.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha reached out, touching Jaune's arm.

He shook her off. "It's ok, I'm fine!" he spat through gritted teeth. "Just keep fighting!"

Pyrrha frowned slightly, but nodded, her face turning into a resolute mask of steel. She spun back towards Cinder, her ponytail flying behind her.

"Enough of this." Weiss stepped forward and pulled the trigger on her Evoker. As Fairest appeared before her, Weiss used her persona to launch a volley of blade-like shards of ice towards her foe. "Bufula!"

As the shards rushed towards Cinder, they melted in the air – never coming close to harming her. Cinder's smile widened, and she continued her approach. As she did so, she seemingly dragged her Persona with her, who followed helplessly as he clutched his chain, clawing at his neck.

Three more chains erupted from Cinder towards the hunters. Blake barely rolled out of the way of the one coming toward her. Weiss took a blow to the gut, doubling over from the strike. Penny, however, deftly parried hers with a strike from her dagger, and moved to the front of the group.

Pyrrha stood beside her, spear at the ready. They moved in tandem – as a chain struck at them, Pyrrha would deflect it either with her spear or with Baldr. Meanwhile, Penny would use Kvasir or her own dagger. By alternating in this pattern, they started to gain serious ground on Cinder.

Jaune tried to keep up, but the blazing inferno still burned in his head. He watched on through squinted eyes, trying to keep track.

"Weiss! I've got you." Freya appeared once more, a healing light washing over Weiss's doubled over form. Blake then reached over to Weiss, helping her stand up straight. Weiss took a moment to nod to Blake, then looked up to see Penny and Pyrrha's continued assault heading for Cinder.

Yang and Ruby ran up beside Weiss and Blake, and the four seemed in perfect sync as their evokers fired off simultaneously, causing an immense staccato gunshot to echo throughout the room. Fairest, Big Bad, Sif, and Freya all stood next to each other. Fairest spun in place, winking one large eye. Big Bad let out a howling snarl as its small red cape billowed behind it. Sif's onyx hand stretched out, her shining golden hair dripping over her body. Freya's book snapped open, and her cat-like claw danced over the pages.

"Bufudyne!" "Garudyne!" "Ziodyne!" "Agidyne!"

Cinder's eyes widened as she continued to launch her flaming assaults onto the approaching Pyrrha and Penny. She caught the magical assaults out of the corner of her eye. As the Shadow Hunters Persona's manifested, Cinder slid backwards towards her Persona, using the tautness of her chain and her Persona's massive form as leverage.

The swirling tornado, giant shard of ice, gargantuan fireball, and bolt of lightning all struck the spot where Cinder had only been a moment ago. Cinder pulled herself up to her feet, stretching out both of her hands. As she did so, one chain came straight for Pyrrha and Penny, which Pyrrha easily knocked aside.

Another chain went down, underneath the bridge, and came up on the other side to wrap itself around Pyrrha and Penny's legs. Cinder jerked her hands back, and both girls were gone in an instant – the chain dragging them underneath the bridge, where they dangled, arms swinging. Pyrrha's Evoker left her hand… it spun past the moving platforms beneath them, and as it vanished from sight, no one heard it hit the ground.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang – who had all started to head onto the bridge, suddenly stopped in their tracks. Cinder had one hand outstretched towards the approaching hunters, the other with a tightly-clenched fist.

"I believe," Cinder said, slightly out of breath, "that Emerald should come with me."

"And I believe you deserve a fist to the face." Yang responded, pounding a knuckle into her open palm and taking another step forward.

"Is that so?" Cinder chuckled and slightly relaxed her clenched fist – the chain holding Pyrrha and Penny slacked, only slightly, causing them to descend a foot further from the bridge. Pyrrha gasped at the sudden shift, and Yang stopped in her tracks.

Jaune's blurred vision slowly came back, just to see Pyrrha and Penny held aloft by the chain. His mind raced as he took in the surrounding scene – Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang – all ready to take on Cinder. Cinder, holding Pyrrha and Penny above the gaping chasm beneath them. Emerald stood next to him, and he could sense that she was shaking.

"Cinder, I…" Emerald stepped forward, past Jaune. "If I come with you, you have to let them go."

"I suppose that'll do." Cinder said, staring daggers at the rest of the hunters.

Emerald slowly shifted her way toward Cinder. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang parted to let her onto the bridge. Emerald sighed, her footsteps echoing as she approached Cinder.

Pyrrha's voice rang out from beneath the bridge. "You don't have to do this." Pyrrha shouted. "You don't have to go with her!"

Emerald looked down to see Pyrrha's helpless form, dangling next to Penny. Penny's eyes seemed to be darting to various locations, her face calm – and Emerald noticed that her wrist-dagger was partially revealed through her arm – it looked as though Penny was taking aim with one arm, and holding Pyrrha's waist with the other.

Emerald furrowed her brow – despite Cinder's strength, they were still resisting. Even as defeated as they were, they were still fighting… These Shadow Hunters never gave up…

" _What if you joined us?"_ echoed in her mind. She saw Ruby's smiling face… imagined a life where she wore a school uniform, where she could be carefree. Where she could have friends, not just people she depended on to survive.

A blue mist started to swirl around Emerald's body. "I… I don't… want… to go with you!" Her voice rose as she spoke, and the mist started to take shape behind her. "You told me to pick more competent friends…"

The mist continued to swirl, taking shape above her. What manifested, floating above and behind her, was a carpet that was floating on its own in mid-air. The carpet was inlaid with multiple images – thieves with scimitars, a massive cave, serpents, apples, djinn, and a fisherman. From the center of the carpet, a woman's upper body emerged – just her head, upper chest, shoulders, and arms. In her hands she held a diamond that glittered beautifully.

"Well here they are! Scheherazade!"

As the persona finished forming, it held its diamond forward, which began to glow with a powerful energy that threatened to strike out at Cinder.

It never got the chance.

A black, burning chain wrapped itself violently around the newly formed Persona's neck, slamming its face into the ground where it vanished into a puff of smoke. Another chain shot forward, grabbing Emerald by her waist, whipping Emerald toward Cinder at breakneck speed.

"Emerald!" Jaune cried out, one hand outstretched towards Cinder, another gripping at his head, trying to dull the pain. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all looked on, eyes darting between the dangling Pyrrha and Penny, and the Emerald now in her grasp.

Cinder held one arm around Emerald's neck, the other still gripped to the chain that was tied to her Persona – which was then tied to Penny and Pyrrha. Cinder let out a gentle chuckle that filled the room.

"Well, I did say I would let them go." Cinder smiled to herself. "Far be it for me to go back on a promise."

She let her hand fall slack, and the chain that was holding Penny and Pyrrha vanished. In that same instant, Penny fired the wire-dagger from her right wrist, her left tightly wrapped around Pyrrha's waist. The dagger flew into the bridge with a 'thunk', leaving Penny and Pyrrha suspended by the wire attached to the dagger.

For a moment, at least.

"Logi." Cinder said calmly. Logi roared, and a ball of fire shot from her Persona into Penny's outstretched wrist. It collided directly with the base of her wire – the only thing keeping her and Pyrrha from falling to their doom. As the ball of fire exploded, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jaune all looked on helplessly, gasping as they watched the flame incinerate the wire into ashes on contact.

In total silence, Pyrrha looked to Jaune, and Jaune looked to Pyrrha. Their eyes met for the briefefst, most precious of moments, Pyrrha's face a solemn, pained smile. Time seemed to slow as Jaune's hand reached out... at nothing. If her name left his lips, she wasn't there to hear it.

Through pained expressions, the Shadow Hunters looked on as Pyrrha and Penny were, suddenly, no longer there.


	47. Chapter 46

Ruby, stood there, staring at the spot where Pyrrha and Penny had been before they fell. Blake put her hand close to her heart and gasped. Weiss and Yang looked at each other, narrowed their eyes, and rushed toward Cinder. They barely made it 5 feet before a rainbow light enveloped the chamber, and Cinder and Emerald were no more.

Jaune just stood in shock through it all. He vaguely acknowledged that the bright light meant that Cinder and Emerald had gone somewhere else, vaguely acknowledged that this meant the battle was over, vaguely acknowledged that this meant they should head back to the dorms, vaguely acknowledged that Ruby was shaking him, calling his name to him.

"We should look for them." Blake said, staring over the ledge with Yang. "They might've… they might still be…"

Yang put her arm around Blake's shoulder and pulled her in to an embrace. Blake just stood there, head against Yang's shoulder for a few moments… then she started sobbing. Yang rubbed her back gently, swallowing back tears of her own, staring up at the ceiling.

"They couldn't have survived that fall." Weiss said as she stared into the abyss. The moving stone platforms obscured the view of the bottom, but she couldn't see the bottom.

Ruby kept shaking Jaune, who collapsed onto his hands and knees. They were gone, just like that. His newest friend Penny, and Pyrrha who had been his friend since the very beginning. Both gone, and he couldn't do a thing to save them...

"W-wait!" Jaune said, shaking. He pulled his evoker out of its slot and held it to his head. "With La Pucelle's help, I can… I can make sure…" He held the trigger to his head, shaking… terrified of what he might see once he was granted the greater vision that came with summoning his Persona.

The evoker shook in his hand for a few moments… then Jaune let it fall to the floor. He let out a heaving sigh, and started to cry.

Weiss swallowed hard and summon Fairest. She examined her Persona's looking-glass structure and used it to search for Pyrrha and Penny. After a few brief moments, a look of horror crossed her face. She dismissed Fairest and let out a gasping sob. If any of the Shadow Hunters had their doubts, Weiss just laid them to rest.

* * *

Saturday, June 2nd  
"Two of our best. Just like that." Sitting on the couch on the bottom floor of the dorm with the rest of the Shadow Hunters, Yang sighed heavily as she clenched her fist. "She was tougher than anything we've fought before. What the hell?"

The silence that followed showed the Shadow Hunters staring at anything in the room to avoid eye contact. Ruby was looking at the ceiling with a soft frown. Weiss, arms crossed, stared over her shoulder at the wall. Blake stared straight ahead at nothing all together. Yang's vision kept darting from one place to another, her breathing hard. Jaune's head was in his hands.

"-mph-thing." came from under his hands.

From beside him, Ruby turned her gaze from the ceiling towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can talk to us, Jaune."

"I did- … I did nothing." He said, finally, pulling his hands away. His face was tight, his mouth hanging slightly open, the corners of his lips drawn downward. He was shaking, all over. "I was useless. If I had done something… anything… they would…"

"They would still have died." Weiss cut him off, harsh at first but softening her words halfway through her sentence. "Jaune… Cinder was unlike anything we've ever faced… it's not your fault. It's no ones."

"No one but Cinder's." Yang corrected, and the fire behind her eyes was almost visible.

"It's ok." Blake said, standing up and coming over to Jaune. She knelt in front of him and put a hand on his knee. "I know how you feel. I… I wondered if I could've done something differently… if they'd still be alive…"

"But… you all fought her." Jaune said, lip trembling. "You were all doing everything you could, while I was blind and stumbling around like an idiot…"

"Jaune…" Ruby put her head on his shoulder, and wrapped him in a hug. "I couldn't save Qrow either." She said. "It's hard. I understand what you're going through, but the only thing we can do is try to get stronger… for them. To finish what we started."

Jaune closed his eyes and slowed his breathing and stopped shaking. He put a hand over Blake's and rested his head against Ruby's. "Thanks… I just… I don't know what to do next."

"I do." Yang stood up and put her hand in her fist again. "We wreck the last Guardian. We stop Cinder. We put an end to all of the Grimm Hour, forever, and never have to deal with this mess again."

Jaune nodded to her, then stared back down at his legs. "What if that doesn't even work?" Jaune looked up. "What if Emerald lied to us? What if…" He felt a lump in his throat, and his eyes watered as he looked into the eyes of his friends. "What if they died for nothing?"

There was a silence that permeated the room, with each of the remaining Hunters taking this into account. The air was dark and grim around them, as they each considered that this could all be for naught. After a few minutes, it was Ruby who finally broke the silence.

"That's impossible." Ruby said, finally. "Not Emerald lying to us, but Penny and Pyrrha dying for nothing. We get to decide what they died for." Her silver eyes met Jaune. "We can make sure that, no matter what, they didn't die for nothing. Even if Emerald did lie and we have to figure something else out. Even if Cinder is completely impossible to defeat. Even if we never find the last Guardian, we can keep going. We can make sure their deaths weren't in vain."

Blake, Weiss, and Yang all nodded as Ruby's voice filled the room.

"I idolized Pyrrha, in a way." Weiss said. "She was so dedicated to her cause. She might have even been the strongest of us, despite never having gotten a second Persona." She looked wistfully at the carpet, eyes lost somewhere else. "I know one thing for sure, though. She wouldn't want us to give up here."

Yang nodded, punching her fist into her palm. "Plus, we can't just let them get away like that. Cinder deserves to pay for what she did to our friends. Even if I have to go out fighting, I'd like to make sure I at least get one good slug in before I do."

"… you're right." Jaune said, standing up. "We're all too strong for this to stop us now." He looked down at his hands and up at the rest of the gathered Hunters. He put his hand forward. Ruby put her hand atop his. Then Weiss on top of Ruby. Next was Blake, and finally Yang. Their eyes all met as Jaune spoke. "No matter the cost, we see this through to the end… not just for them, but for us, too."

All of the Shadow Hunters nodded, and suddenly a voice spoke in the back of Jaune's mind… or so he thought.

 _Thou art I…  
And I am thou…_

Each of the Hunters looked to each other, feeling an energy flow through them. Jaune could feel his mind awaken, a new form taking shape in the back of his psyche. As he breathed heavily, the voice continued.  
 _  
Thy story has nearly come to its end…  
As the final chapter approaches, your hearts have awakened within you...  
A new Persona…_

"D-did you all hear that too?" Weiss said, looking around. There were simultaneous nods as they all looked down at their gathered hands.

"I feel... stronger." Yang said. Blake and Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Me too." Jaune said, smiling. "Not because of... whatever that was. But because I have you guys."

"Dork." Yang said, and then she pulled on everyone's hands so they came in to an embrace.

* * *

"Well, Mister Arc, I suppose the time has finally come." Ozpin sat with his hands cradled in front of his glasses, as usual. Glynda was here as well, leaning casually against the wall with a gentle smile on her face. The blackboard had written across it a single word; ENDING. "I am sorry to see your ranks have lessened."

Jaune nodded slowly and looked around. The desks had gotten more crowded. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were the only remaining dolls, each sitting straight up and looking ahead at the front of the classroom. Jaune passed each of them as he made his way toward Ozpin and Glynda at the front of the class.

"I'm afraid your lessons are over." Glynda said, arms crossed. "It'll be a shame to watch you go, but I'm proud to say you were a fine student."

"Thanks Glynda." Jaune looked over to Ozpin, who nodded.

"You know now what must be done, I take it?" Ozpin's voice creeped through the room. The sensation used to send chills down Jaune's spine, but now he was so used to it that he barely noticed anymore.

"We have to defeat Salem, and put an end to this Grimm Hour once and for all." Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No matter what."

"Precisely." Ozpin looked to the remaining dolls sitting in the classroom. "I have the utmost faith that, together, you will accomplish all that you seek to do."

"There is one trial first, however." Glynda added. "There's a final guardian before you can end this – then, and only then, can you finally put an end to Muspell."

"What will happen to you guys?" Jaune said, looking around the classroom. "If the Grimm Hour is over, I won't exactly need Personas anymore… or the Velvet Room…"

"Worry not, young Mister Arc." Ozpin smiled, looking up to meet Jaune's eyes from behind his glasses. "We will remain here, until our next visitor appears. While you may put an end to the Grimm Hour yet, it is hardly an end to all of the evils of the world. We shall remain, ever at the service of those who truly need us."

"Well, let's hope the world doesn't need saving again any time soon." He grabbed a few cards from Ozpin's desk, made some necessary fusion changes, set up the rest of the party with their final grip of Personas, and made his way to the door.

"Hey, Glynda, Ozpin?" He said, as he looked at his hand on the knob. "Thanks."

Glynda and Ozpin watched him fade from the room and turned to each other. "I can't believe it's finally about to end." Ozpin said. "To think, what started so long ago with the twins… It will end with this talented team."

"They're more than that." Glynda said, looking to him. Ozpin raised an eyebrow as she continued. "More than a team, I mean. They're a wonderful group of friends… and when you're fighting all of the evils of the world, all of the dark nights, all of the nearly impossible challenges, the grief and the turmoil and the loneliness… a wonderful group of friends is the best weapon you can have."


	48. Chapter 47

Monday, June 4th  
"You've got this, Sif!" Yang said as she fired her Evoker. Her golden-haired Persona manifested before her and threw its golden locks around the large scorpion-shaped Shadow that had appeared before them. As it pulled on the shadow's claw, Yang ran forward, launched off of the claw, and landed a fist right in the center of the scorpion's masked face. Yang landed on one knee, looking up to see the Shadow's spear-like tail heading straight for her.

"I've got your back! Black Jack!" Weiss pulled the trigger a small, chubby snowman with pitch black skin and a purple hat appeared in front of her. It let out a 'hee-ho' before launching a giant shard of ice into the tail of the Shadow, knocking it aside just before it could reach Yang.

"Don't let them fight alone, Titania!" As Blake pulled her trigger, a woman with long, golden hair and a bright green dress appeared in front of her. The woman's large insect-like wings fluttered behind her as she spun, and a blast of green energy blasted under the Shadow, knocking it over. It fell onto its back, its stomach exposed.

"I'm up!" Ruby pulled her trigger as a massive green blob appeared behind her, its gaping maw seemingly endlessly large, above which two small eyes protruded. "Abaddon!" As the mouth let out a roar, Ruby was propelled forward at lightning speed, dashing through and around the body of the scorpion, small flashes of energy appearing wherever she cut the creature. She came to a sliding stop back next to the rest of the Hunters. As she slid to a stop, the shadow before them began to vanish into the tell-tale black vapor that showed its demise.

"So far so good!" Jaune said, stepping forward. He looked over to the rest of the Hunters who nodded to him. "At this rate we'll be at the last guardian in no time."

They examined the dungeon around them. This chamber was a gargantuan feasting hall. Everywhere they turned to look, there were massive tables with gargantuan piles of food having been abandoned beside them. Haunches of meat and mugs of mead just left strewn across the floor, as though a group of giants left in a hurry. They were heading towards the very back, where there was a throne.

"I think we're almost at the end." Ruby said, as the throne got ever closer. She kept looking up, almost falling back trying to see the top of it. "I sure hope we don't have to fight whatever's using that."

There was a gunshot, followed by Weiss's voice. "I think… there's a door." She was staring into Fairest, whose mirrored surface was displaying a flat black and white map of the area. "From the looks of things, it'll be right at the center of the base of the throne."

"And after that…" Blake turned to the others.

"The last guardian." Jaune finished. The group continued onward.

* * *

"Ok, so maybe it wasn't that close." Ruby's scythe cut through another bear-shaped Shadow. "It feels like we've been walking forever."

"I'm getting tired of these puny ones." Yang's fist collided with the stomach of a large wolf-like shadow. As it did so, she came up beneath it and went to its stomach like a speed-bag, and suddenly she was in the middle of the black mist that used to be its body.

Freya launched a ball of fire from behind Blake, followed by Fairest's blast of ice. As they both collided with an eagle shadow, the shadow fell to the ground, let out a weak cry, and exploded into black vapor. "I agree." Blake said. "I feel like we should be there by now."

"I think you're right too." Weiss summoned Fairest again. "Almost. It's a little hard to tell, but we should be there soon."

"Ugh." Yang looked to the others, and pointed ahead. Two of the giant scorpion shadows were staring them down from either side of the throne. "Can we just skip this and get to the last guardian?"

"I guess I have enough energy to launch it once." Jaune said, looking to the others. They nodded.

"Trust us, worth it." Ruby said. "Then we can take out the last guardian and you can save the second shot for Cinder."

"Don't forget we still have to deal with Raven." Yang said. "But you're right. If we go at this rate we'll run out of energy before we get there. Go for it, Jaune. I'll lure them in."

The group approached the throne, and the two shadows rushed in to face them. As they did so, Jaune put the barrel of his evoker to his head and fired. As he did so, the blue mist swirling behind him manifested into a large body behind him. "Odin!"

Its body seemed to be made of slender golden metal, legs simple geometric shapes ending in points. From there, a red sash tied around the top of its 'thighs' to its waist, which was a large breast plate. From there, two disjointed arms floated to the sides, each also solid gold, one holding a massive shield – just like Baldr's – the other holding a white and gold bordered flag, whose base was shaped like a spear with a cross, just like La Pucelle's. The persona's head was a solid golden helmet, with vines wrapped around the neck that came up over the right side of its face, covering it like an eyepatch. The other eye, a bright and vibrant red, stared straight ahead.

"Gungnir!" Jaune followed. The persona behind him tossed its flag into the air, catching it, ready for a javelin toss. Torrents of energy launched off of the persona's right arm as its red eye emitted a beam that narrowed in on the two shadows, one behind the other. The beam, like a sniper's targeting laser, went straight into the face of the first shadow. Suddenly, the spear was no longer in the persona's hand. There was a sonic boom, and the spear turned into a piece of solid light as it struck through each shadow.

Both shadows stood there for a moment, then their masks cracked at the center, followed by their bodies falling to the left and right of where the spear had pierced them cleanly through. The collapsed shadows swirled into mist, vanishing from sight.

"Woohoo!" Yang punched the air. "That was awesome!"

"And expensive." Weiss said, looking at Fairest. "That was almost half of your total magical energy."

Jaune nodded as Odin disappeared from behind him. "Yeah, I'll just have to be sure to take it easy during the fight against the Guardian. But if I need it…" He clenched his fist. "It's nice to have on the backburner."

"Welp, there's the door." Ruby said as she stepped up to the base of the throne. There was a door with a rounded top, and runes were etched all throughout the door. As Ruby pressed her palm to the door, the door cracked down the center, splitting to the sides, leading into a pitch black darkness.

"Are we ready?" Blake said, looking the party over. Each shadow hunter nodded in turn, and one by one, vanished into the black.

* * *

As their vision returned, the Shadow Hunters found them standing on a tower – or at least, the remains of one. Broken and shattered gears, like those of a clock tower, were scattered all over the floor. Above them, an endless night sky full of stars stretched onward, and the gray stone of the tower seemed to be crumbling in places.

"Where's the Shadow?" Blake said, turning to Weiss and expecting her to summon Fairest.

Weiss did not, instead she simply looked up and pointed. The silhouette of a gargantuan winged creature descended from the sky towards them. Each of the Shadow Hunters deftly rolled out of the way as the creature landed, its huge talons gripping the ground.

The creature's four feet each ended with three dagger-like claws. They stretched up to its slender body, which had bone-like protrusions covering its torso and the base of its neck, which snaked up to its elongated mouth. It opened to show rows of deadly fangs, and a long forked tongue. The face of the creature was covered in a white mask with two horns at the top of each side, and one massive horn coming form the center. Upon the base of the horn was the roman numeral XIII. The creature's wings stretched form its forearms to its back, and were translucent and red.

"Oh crap, it's a dragon." Jaune said, holding his sword in hand. "Everyone, be careful."

"Don't worry." Weiss said, Evoker already to her forehead. "We've got this."

The blast of ice struck the creature on its front talon, and it roared in anger. Its tail, ending in a triangle shape with blades on each point, stabbed towards Ruby, who sidestepped it and drove her scythe into the tail.

Yang ran forward, calling on Sif. Sif clenched her obsidian fist and summoned the bold of thunder directly into the dragon's back. The dragon's maw opened, and it snapped down towards Yang, who quickly slid underneath it and punched the dragon in the jaw. With lightning speed, the dragon put a talon directly on Yang's chest, pressing her into the ground. Yang grunted with pain, trying to pull herself out from underneath it.

"Yang!" Blake launched a blast of fire at the outstretched arm, only for it to do absolutely nothing.

"It won't take me much energy to examine it, keep fighting!" Jaune said, calling upon Odin. Odin manifested behind Jaune, and Jaune's world opened once more as he examined the dragon. The name 'Nidhoggr – Death Dragon' appeared at the top. "It doesn't have any weaknesses!" He called out. "It's immune to fire!"

"Got it." Weiss said, turning to Ruby. The two rushed forward as Yang kept trying to push the talon off of her. The dragon brought its jaws down to clamp around her head, only to have its head be blasted sideways by a powerful gust of wind, then knocked backward by a large chunk of ice. Ruby and Weiss stood there with Big Bad and Fairest beside them.

"We've got you!" Ruby said, only to turn to the side and see the creature's massive tail coming towards them. It swiped them both off of their feet, causing the air to leave their lungs as they landed on their backs.

"Weiss, Ruby!" Blake said, watching as the dragon's head reared back for another bite. There was no time. She had to save Yang!

 _Thou art I…_

Blake ran forward at a mad dash, putting herself between Yang and the oncoming dragon's jaw and pulling the trigger on her Evoker. As the blue mist swirled before her, she could feel it change shape.

The agape mouth of the dragon was being held back by two large black paws that belonged to a humanoid cat – much like Freya was. However, where Freya wore a ballgown, this creature wore blue suit pants, black boots, and a blue jacket that was hanging from its neck like a cape. It had a white cloth wrapped around its waist, up to its collarbone. This cat was black, and had a long blade at its side and a small blue tricorn hat. The new persona slugged the dragon across the face, causing it to rear back and stumble slightly, freeing Yang.

"Holy crap Blake!" Yang said, as Blake helped her to her feet. Blake's new persona turned to the girls, gave a purr, winked, and vanished, the sleeves of its jacket blowing in an ethereal wind.

The two ran back to Weiss and Ruby, who were just coming to a stand. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang stood, weapons at the ready. They stared down the dragon, then met each other's eyes, just for a brief moment, nodded, and rushed forward.


	49. Chapter 48

?

The massive form of the Dragon Shadow had just collapsed into nothingness. As it disintegrated into the tell-tale black particles, floating in the air, they slowly joined the stars overhead of the broken tower. It was an easy battle, hardly worth breaking a sweat over. Not that Cinder broke much of a sweat under normal circumstances anyway. She turned and started to head towards the exit – a series of stairs that had pulled themselves out of the ground towards a rainbow-colored light– where she saw a silhouette standing in front of the door. As Cinder prepared to summon Logi once more, the silhouette started clapping.

"Well done. I've never seen anyone – aside from myself – defeat that guardian. You may be the most powerful persona user I've ever seen." Her voice was mature – but not elderly. Clearly older than Cinder.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Cinder stepped cautiously towards the staircase, eyes focused on the silhouette, posture hunched as she prepared to fight or flee.

"My name's Raven. I'm working to put an end to all of this nonsense." She gestured broadly at her surrounding area. "And you are?"

"Cinder." Cinder could see the woman now as she stepped into the moonlight – or at least, the light of the orb in the sky in this section of Muspell. She had long dark hair, and wore a red jacket with black leather slacks. A gun was holstered at her hip.

"Well Cinder, I think you might be the best chance I have at getting precisely what I want." Raven gestured to where the dragon-shadow had been standing just moments before. "You get to keep fighting these monsters – with my help – and together, we can awaken the serpent."

"The serpent?" Cinder kept the thought of Logi in the back of her mind, still not sure if she should trust this newcomer. She raised an eyebrow to Raven.

"Jormangandr." Raven said simply. "The world serpent that nests here, within Muspell. If we awaken it, then we can unleash untold power, and make sure no one else has to go through what we went through." Raven stepped forward, extending a hand.

"What do you know about what I went through?" Cinder slapped Raven's hand away as she backed away. "Why would I even help you? You sound insane."

"So, you just came into your power naturally?" Raven said, reaching into a pouch that was strapped to her thigh. She withdrew a small vial of orange liquid that Cinder recognized all too well. "You weren't, say, pulled into a lab and injected with this liquid? You didn't feel it burning-"

"The burning." Cinder said, looking at the vial of Dust. "That was the worst part. The fire in the veins…" Cinder looked down, clenching her fist. The truth of the matter was that Cinder grew to love the burning. When the pain eventually manifested into Logi, that was only fitting. If she had to burn, she wanted the world to burn with her… and Logi was the perfect tool for it.

"I see you can tell exactly what I mean." Raven said, walking forward. She put her arm around Cinder's shoulders, and this time Cinder didn't' back away. "I think we'll get along fine, young Cinder. Come with me."

"I'll hear you out, on one condition." Cinder said, looking down at her hands. She let them relax, and spent a moment wiggling her fingers. She then looked over to Raven beside her. "You're coming to me because you need help, right?"

"Well, of course." Raven said. "If it were something I could do alone, I already would have."

Cinder nodded to herself, and smiled. "I have two people who would be just perfect for the job."

Then, Raven and Cinder continued their way up the stairs and to the shining doorway, the broken tower vanishing behind them as they passed through the portal.

* * *

"Bête!" Blake called with her Evoker to her head. Her new Persona manifested, and with a purr it flashed its pearly white fangs. As it did so, a green light healed the wound that Yang had just taken to the stomach. Yang nodded to Blake, then dodge-rolled under the dragon's tail, which was heading right at her head for a return swipe.

Yang came out of the roll next to Ruby. The two sisters simultaneously fired their evokers. Sif and Big Band appeared next to each other. One of Sif's many shining golden braids shot out and grabbed the dragon's tail as it passed by. Sif gripped her braid and tugged, hard, at the chord holding the tail and pulled the tail to the ground, where Big Bad opened its sword-filled-maw and bit down on the tail.

The tail fell off of the dragon, disintegrating into black dust. The dragon let out an angry roar and flapped its wings, the hurricane strength gust pushing Weiss, Yang, Ruby, and Blake back. Jaune slid to the ground and continued to look over the situation, his evoker still at the ready should he need to unleash his ultimate weapon early. He wiped a bead of sweat away from his head.

As the group came to a stand after the strong wind gust, the dragon shadow opened its maw. It took in a deep breath, pointing its face to the sky before tipping its mouth towards the gathered hunters. A red glow started at the bottom of its throat and made its way to the dragon's mouth. As the orange fire escaped its throat, Blake wasted no time in rushing to the front of the rest of the Shadow Hunters. She stood there, arms crossed, as the blasting fire came down to envelope her body.

"Yang!" The girls cried out, and each one jumped up to assist. Weiss summoned Fairest, who fired a gargantuan shard of ice at the dragon to knock its head aside. Bête was already there at Blake's call, preparing a healing spell for Yang. Ruby used Big Bad to summon a tornado at the front of the blast of fire in an attempt to deflect what was remaining from striking her sister.

As the fire blasted down and vanished – Yang still stood there, unscathed. In front of her was Sif – seemingly. Yang's persona had its arms crossed, protecting Yang from the assault – a small barrier of energy formed in front of it. As Yang's persona flipped its golden hair, now there were small blue ribbons tied through it – and the hand that she flipped it with, seemed to end in a small, fanged head of a bear – as though someone had ripped the head off of a teddy bear and put it over a boxing glove. On closer examination, one could also make out small brown circular bear-like ears poking out from the top of the persona's head from underneath the golden locks.

Yang's mouth opened into a wide grin as her new persona vanished into blue mist, and she smiled at the others. "Looks like I finally caught up to you! Let's put an end to this!" She slammed her fist into her palm, pointing to the dragon as it floated in the air. "You don't stand a chance now!"

The shard of ice from Fairest successfully knocked the dragon's head aside, and it let out an angered roar. It soared overhead, circling the remains of the broken tower, its black silhouette blocking out the stars behind it. After a single round, it dove down – straight towards Jaune, its jaws wide open to snap closed around him.

As it came closer, Jaune pulled the trigger on his Evoker, and Odin manifested – catching the creature's face against its shield. The rest of the Shadow Hunters rushed behind Jaune, and in one cacophonous bang, summoned each of their personas.

"LOCKS!" Yang called, and her not-quite-Sif persona manifested again. It fired two long ribbons of golden hair around the dragon's neck, which tied themselves securely around its throat. Jaune released Odin, and as he did so Locks pulled on her golden hair and with a massive heave, pulled the dragon over its body to slam onto its back on the opposite end of the Shadow Hunters.

"Big Bad!" Ruby cried. As she did so, the wolf appeared beside her, summoning a torrent of air from underneath her. Ruby launched into the air, spinning her scythe wildly, gaining momentum as she dove straight at the dragon, who tried to protect itself with its two wings.

"Fairest!" Weiss called, summing a torrent of blade sharp icicles above the dragon's left wing. The shards drove down as the guardian tried to lift its wing in front of its body. The wing was pierced down by the icicles, and pinned in place to the dragon's side.

"Bête!" Blake called, and her new persona let out a wild roar as it dove onto the dragon's right wing with its body, pinning the wing to the ground as it cut into the wing with its exposed claws.

With the wings out of the way, Ruby continued her mad dive like a bullet into the creature's throat. There was a flash of silver and crimson, and then Ruby landed in a crouch next to the dragon's head. She stood, slowly, flashing her scythe behind her, the hood of her red hoodie falling back to her shoulders. As it did so, the dragon's head slowly separated from the rest of its body.

As the dragon's body vanished into smoke, each of the girls looked at each other with a smile. Jaune stared on as well, mouth open in awe. There was a pause as they all looked up from the broken tower to see the dragon's remains dissipating into the night sky.

"We… we did it." Blake said, looking at the others.

"We did it!" Ruby cried, running towards the other girls.

"WOOHOO!" Yang cried, grabbing her sister and spinning her in an embrace.

"Well done, everyone." Weiss said as she came towards the others, and they all held each other and laughed.

As they did so, there was the sound of stone moving against stone. The shadow hunters turned to see a series of stairs rising up from the tower, leading to a previously unseen door that was now floating above the ground. As the last stair came into place as the base of the door, the door slowly opened, a rainbow colored light shining through.

"So… this is it." Jaune said, looking at the others, then turning his head toward the newly opened door. "Time for us to put an end to all of this."

"It's hard to believe it's already here." Ruby said, looking at the gathered Hunters. "Are we ready?"

Blake, Weiss, and Yang all nodded to Ruby, then almost in unison turning to stare at the door above them. For a long moment the group just stood there, staring at the light shining from beyond the gate, exchanging looks with each other, but no one taking a step towards it. Then, finally, Yang reached out a hand and lightly shoved Jaune. Jaune almost lost his balance, tipping forward. "H-Hey!"

"Well, mister leader." Ruby said, "we're waiting on you."

"I um... yeah!" Jaune chuckled, planting his foot on the first step. As they headed up towards the end, they smiled to each other. Ruby started hopping up the steps two at a time, and before long all of the Hunters were running after her, smiling and cheering as they rushed towards the finale.


	50. Chapter 49

?  
The light stopped blinding them suddenly, and Cinder found herself standing in the entrance chamber of Muspell. The same stone doors lined the walls, and she, Mercury, and Emerald paused to take a breather. Raven stood there, leaning against the wall as they returned. They had just defeated the strange donkey-summoning, umbrella-wielding shadow on the train.

"How many times are we gonna do this?" Mercury whined, leaning forward. "I don't think Thialfi and I can handle even one more."

"I know how you feel." Emerald had immediately collapsed into a seating position on the floor. "I might not be fighting like you but Utgardaloki and I are putting our all into tricking those shadows."

"Even I must admit, I would not have been able to do this myself." Cinder said, though she didn't actually look much worse for wear. "Being a part of this… 'Salem' has been quite the experience."

"Yeah, well." Mercury said, pausing to gasp for breath. "The sooner it's over, the better, right? Then we can show that Schnee company whose boss."

"And make sure no more kids go through what we did." Emerald added, looking to Raven.

Raven nodded, slowly, uncrossing her arms and stepping forward. "That should've been the last one." With an outstretched hand, Raven gestured at the remaining doors. "With all of the Guardians defeated, now, we just need to head to the final chamber…"

* * *

"They just… come back?" Mercury said, standing in the center of the grove after having defeated, once again, the giant twin-headed snake shadow. "Then what the hell's the point?"

"What if there's a certain number of times we have to defeat them?" Emerald said, a hand under her chin. "Like, if we defeat them all five times, maybe the ritual works."

"I don't think that's it." Raven said, looking around the room. "I noticed this the first time the ritual failed… when we defeat one of these bigger shadows, the runes on the floor of the final chamber light up, but after only a few moments they dim."

"So we have to defeat them faster?" Mercury said. "I mean, I'm game but that's going to be a heck of a fight."

Cinder circled the chamber slowly, a thoughtful look on her face. "I think… there's one other thing." She pointed her finger toward Raven. "Whenever you say the chant to summon Jormangandr, the chant mentions a sacrifice. It mentions blood and giving up a life."

"Yeah, but that's just it being all spooky and occult, right?" Mercury chimed. "They wouldn't actually…"

"I think they would." Raven said, with deafening finality. She looked at each of the gathered children and nodded. "I'm afraid that this is going to get a bit rougher than I anticipated, but worry not." She held her hand up, and clenched her fist. "Salem shall grow as strong as we wish."

There was a tense silence that followed as the group stared at Raven, whose eyes seemed far away.

* * *

Saturday, April 7th

"What if we just have to get them to leave Muspell?" Mercury said, holding a rainbow colored gem in his hand. "Like, these can take us in and out of here at will, right? So what if we just need to have them all leave, and then see if that works?"

"That's an idea." Raven said. "Cinder, go with him. I want you to subdue the giant shadow of the Fool Arcana and send it out into the world."

"Done." Cinder stepped next to Mercury, who held the gem aloft. The rainbow light encircled them, and they vanished. As they did, Emerald came stomping through the door.

"The sacrifice didn't work. We set up that revenge – text nonsense for nothing!" Emerald shouted as they stood in the center of the room.

"I wouldn't say it was for nothing." Raven said, looking down at the broken body on the floor. "I quite enjoyed it myself."

"You're sick." Emerald shook her head. "We're supposed to be saving people!" Her body was shaking as she spoke. "You said Salem was about saving the world!"

"And we will." Raven bit back, looking down at the body beneath her. "But nothing comes without sacrifice, Emerald. Just like our power – we had to suffer in order to gain this magnificent ability to fight these shadows. Now, think of all the people we'll save."

"But killing to do it… that's pushing it too far." Emerald said, trying not to stare at the grim scene on the floor.

"What they did to us, that was too far." Raven said, wiping a crimson stain off of the dagger in her hand. "What they did to all of us. And every action has its consequence, Emerald." Raven looked down at the body again. "This is the consequence of theirs."

Emerald bit her lip and looked away. Raven stood, dagger in hand, examining the floor near the body. The blood had run along the runes, filling the nooks and crannies of the white marble floor. It was beautiful, in its own morbid way. The moments ticked by with Emerald and Raven standing in silence. After some time had passed, Cinder and Mercury returned in a glow of brilliant shimmering light.

"It's done." Cinder said matter-of-factly. "We put it directly outside."

"Did it light up?" Mercury said, trying to spot the rune from behind the corpse on the floor. Raven looked down, seeing the same thing – no shine, no shimmer. The 0 on the floor stayed a dim piece of stone. Mercury shrugged. "I guess it was worth a shot." He turned to Cinder, flipping the rainbow gem into his hand. "Guess we should go out and hunt it down, huh?"

Cinder nodded. "I suppose that would've been too easy after all." She and Mercury turned to leave. As they did, the room seemed to shake slightly, and a low hum permeated the area.

"W-wait…" Emerald stepped forward, and pointed toward the floor. The 0, the rune indicating the Fool Arcana, had lit up. Previously, a defeated Shadow caused it to glow with a dim, blue light. This one was growing violet, and its light was almost blinding to look at.

Raven stared down, and then turned to the others with a smile. "Well, well, well… looks like we've found our missing piece."

Elsewhere, a girl in an over-sized red hoodie was helping a stranger to his feet.

* * *

Monday, June 4th

"Emerald!" Weiss called out as they entered the room. The chamber they had entered was a marble hall with pure golden columns, and in the distance, a golden throne sat unperturbed, the back of which was shaped like a gargantuan tree with branches stretching outward. The pure white floor was interrupted by the shimmering green of Emerald's hair, her body in the center of the floor.

"Why, it's about time you joined us." Raven stepped from behind one of the columns into view, the sound of her footsteps filling the room as she stood next to Emerald's body. "you shall be the first to see what Salem will soon be capable of."

"Why would you kill her?!" Yang shouted. "You wicked –" She put her Evoker to her head, ready to summon Locks to devastate her enemy. Before she could pull the trigger, a chain whipped from the ground and wrapped around her wrist, slamming her into the ground.

"Yang!" Ruby called. Her scythe was at the ready, and she rushed to help her sister – only for another chain to find its way around her waist, pulling her to the floor as well. Her scythe clattered as it dropped from her grasp, sliding across the floor.

Blake managed to dodge the chain coming to her leg, hopping deftly over it and rolling to the floor. She pulled up her Evoker, only to have it shot out of her hand by an arrow launched from Muggin, whose half-raven body had manifested behind Raven. As her Evoker clattered to the floor, another chain found its way around Blake's neck, yanking her to the floor.

Cinder stepped from behind one of the shining golden pillars, her hand outstretched. An orange glow filled her eyes as she used her persona to trap each of the Shadow Hunters in turn. As Jaune, Blake, and Weiss collapsed under the chains, the giant door behind the hunters closed, blocking the rainbow light from view.

Raven raised her hand towards Emerald's body on the floor. As she did so, a blue light began to shine in a circle around Emerald, lighting Raven's face with a sinister glow. She began to chant in a low hum, and as she did so the bright blue roman numerals on the floor began to glow – one for each of the defeated Guardians.

"It will soon be complete." Raven's voice was full of awe and wonder. The light from the sigils on the floor shining brighter and brighter with each passing moment.

"Why?!" Jaune cried out through clenched teeth, trying desperately to pull his Evoker from its holster, but just barely unable to reach. He struggled against the chains, and the heat flashed across his flesh, causing him to stop his arm from fully extending. If he could struggle even slightly more, he might be able to reach where Blake's Evoker had landed nearby... "Why would you summon Jormangandr?!"

Raven tilted her head towards the interruption. "Summon him? I'm not an idiot, kid. I am here to take his power for my own. Then, I can finally put a stop to all of the nonsense." She gestured broadly around herself. "No more kids fighting and dying for nothing." She said, glancing at the Shadow Hunters. "No more being roped in by Ozpin and his garbage. " She looked over to Weiss. "I'll put an end to the Schnee corporation, and their experiments, and then, finally, the whole Grimm Hour." She looked down at Emerald, sighing. "And all it takes is one sacrifice."

Raven lifted her dagger high, ready to plunge it into Emerald. Her face and body were framed with the glowing light of the runes, now shining red, then orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo, violet. They cycled through the colors rapidly, and Raven's arms went into the air, dagger in hand, eyes focused solely on Emerald's body below her.

Without warning a chain sprung from the ground and grabbed Raven by the ankle. There was a sharp tug, and Raven's face went into the floor hard, dagger spinning out of her grasp. Raven lay splayed there as Emerald's eyes shot open and, with surprising agility, she maneuvered herself away from Raven, snatching up the dagger in the process. She held it, shaking, looking down at Raven and up at Cinder who approached with her hand outstretched. Logi had manifested behind her, and its body was absolutely covered in the chains being used to tie down all of the Shadow Hunters and Raven. The strain was clear on Cinder's face as she stood at the very edge of the circle, sweat forming on her brow.

Blood trickled from Raven's face where she had collided with the floor so violently. As it did so, the rainbow-alternating light of the runes changed to emitting a dark fog. The fog filled the circle, and became a black ooze, rising in a cylinder as though stopped by an invisible wall at the edges of the circle. Raven reached out a hand, only to have it be pulled under the strange goop by a chain.

"W-what are you doing?!" Raven screamed, barely keeping her head above the black matter that was threatening to consume her. As the goop rose and rose, a smile crossed Cinder's strained face. She slowly circled the scene and lowered herself to be face to face with Raven, just as the black mass was covering her nose and about to cover her eyes.

"All it takes is one sacrifice." Cinder repeated, as Raven was devoured by the mass. "Then, all of the power I need will be mine."

The black mass had grown exponentially, and now formed the head of a massive serpent, its fangs a bright red coming from its jaw. It continued to grow and expand, growing ever taller and larger, the strange ooze of its body forming scales along the outside. Cinder looked over to the Shadow Hunters as she placed a hand on the scales, chuckling to herself.

Emerald stepped back, dagger still in hand, watching as Jormangandr rose into power to devour all in its path. "Cinder, you have to stop this!" Emerald echoed as she backed away. "This wasn't part of the plan. We were just supposed to stop Raven!"

"You were just supposed to help distract and stop Raven." Cinder said, looking up at Jormangandr, whose massive form now towered over all of those gathered, its shining, crimson eyes fixated on the Shadow Hunters. "This was my plan all along."


	51. Chapter 50

"ODIN!" Jaune's scream echoed throughout the chamber. There was a gasp from each of the Shadow Hunters as they looked over. Jaune was holding Blake's evoker in his hand, his forehead dripping sweat as the chains surrounded his arm. With the click of the trigger, the blue mist swirled over Jaune's body. The golden legs formed, then the red sash, all the way up to the shimmering helmet with the one vine-covered eye. La Pucelle's spear manifested next to Bladr's shield, and Odin's one eye glinted in the light.

The wooden spear soared through the air, a brilliant bullet of energy that stabbed through the base of Jormangandr's body as it was still forming. The spear flew clear through its black oozing body, launching all the way to the golden throne in the back of the room before dissipating. A deafening silence followed as Cinder turned to see what had happened, all too late to react.

The top of Jormangandr's body began to… drip. A black ooze was falling from its face onto the floor around it, a pitch black rain of oil surrounding it. Cinder looked down as a large drop fell before her, her eyes slowly widening as she looked up, watching Jormangandr collapse into nothingness. There was a slow shift as Jormangandr simply stopped growing, and the top half of its body began to slide away from its bottom half, still leaving putrid puddles of its body on the floor.

Cinder's smile had vanished as she stared at Jaune with abject rage. Behind her, Jormangandr's top half hit the floor, becoming a river behind her. Then, as what happened with all defeated Shadows, Jormangandr's body started to dissipate into the black particles, floating harmlessly into the air. Where once was the Midgard Serpent, Devourer of the World, now was only ash and goop.

She screamed. Cinder let out a blood-curling howl that filled the room.

Jaune let out a heavy breath and collapsed into the floor, his eyes fluttering from the expended energy. He tried to move his body, but found he simply couldn't… he watched, vaguely aware of Cinder's anger rising, but unable to do anything about it.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" She stood above them, Logi behind her twitching violently. She stomped the ground, and as she did so little jets of flame flew from her heel. Logi began to grow larger and larger, the torrent of flame that was its body seemingly having trouble keeping itself together. The chains wrapped around it began to snap, creating sparks all around its body.

Yang watched as the chain released itself from her arm, and she stretched it, quickly coming to a stand. Around her, the other Shadow Hunters –save Jaune – came to their feet again as well. They each brandished their weapons, watching as the scene ahead of them unfolded. Emerald continued her retreat from Cinder, standing among the Shadow Hunters as Logi blazed out of control. Slowly, Jaune stood to join them, seeming dazed as he slowly lifted his sword.

"I will. Destroy. Each. And. EVERY. ONE. OF. YOU. COME TO ME, SURTR!" Cinder held her arms aloft as a series of chains shot forth from Logi's body, surrounding Cinder. Cinder was lifted off of the ground, her body dragged into Logi's. The 'face' that circled Logi's body settled across its torso, and two additional large arms shot out of the swirling tornado of its body. Its entire form dripped molten magma, with Cinder staring out from the chest, between the 'eyes' of the face.

"Th… they've merged." Weiss said, watching the scene unfold. "We… we can still try to get her out of there."

"I don't think there's any point." Emerald called back over the roar of the inferno before them. "This… this is what she wants."

"Well, I'm in for one last fight." Yang said, looking to Ruby, who nodded back as she spun her scythe around her and settled in a fighting pose.

"Me too." Blake stood next to Jaune, her hand on his lower back to support him. Jaune looked at her, the exhaustion clear on his face. He straightened his posture slowly, handing Blake back her Evoker, then reaching for his sword.

"I might not have much left to fight with, but I'll give it all I've got." He said, rolling his shoulders and his neck, looking to the other Shadow Hunters. "For Pyrrha."

"And Penny." Yang said, lowering herself, bringing her fists in front of her face, eyes focusing on Cinder.

"And Qrow." "Ruby added, tapping the base of her scythe against the marble floor.

"I'm in too." Emerald said, looking at the dagger in her hands. "I don't know how much good I'll do, but I'm with you." She stared up at Cinder, a pained expression in her face.

Surtr launched a torrent of flame towards the Shadow Hunters, who scattered. Jaune, Blake, and Emerald ran along the right side, while Yang, Ruby, and Weiss circled the left. Ruby slashed at the lower of Surtr's two left arms with her scythe, barely avoiding the magma that streamed out of the cut afterward. She swiftly side stepped, giving a concerned look to Yang and Weiss before shouting, "be careful!"

Surtr tossed a ball of magma in its right hand casually before tossing it directly towards Blake. Just before it could collide with her, Jaune stepped in front, pulling the trigger on his Evoker. As he did so, Odin manifested, and using Baldr's shield, completely absorbed the flame.

"Thanks!" Blake called, stepping around Jaune to summon Bête, who launched a fury of swipes at Surtr's body, causing it to spill even more magma onto the ground. Emerald managed to dodge-roll out of the way, keeping pace as they continued to circle Surtur's body, side stepping one of the golden columns before she collided directly with it.

"STAND STILL." Surtr shouted, his voice echoing with the sound of charcoal burning. A chain manifested in each of the fire giant's hands. She spun the chains towards Ruby, Yang, and Weiss. Ruby swiftly dove through a gap in the attack, followed by Yang. Weiss was engulfed in one of the chains, and pulled into the air before being slammed back down against the marble floor.

"We can't just keep running in circles!" Blake called watching Weiss get slammed against the floor, summoning her Persona to launch a healing spell over her wounded friend. "We have to come up with a plan!"

"What about Cinder!?" Emerald said, ducking under a fireball that Surtur launched towards her. "What if we can get her out of there?"

"Good plan!" Yang said, sliding to a stop. Ruby slid to one next to her, almost bumping into her as she paused in her momentum. "Give me a lift!" Yang said, kneeling down to the ground.

"You got it!" Ruby pulled the trigger on her Evoker. "Big Bad!" Her giant wolf of a Persona manifested behind her, and with a earth-shattering howl it manifested a gust of wind beneath Yang. Yang launched into the air towards Surtr, pulling her Evoker from its holster as she rocketed toward the core.

"Locks!" She called, pulling the trigger. As she did so, her Persona manifested, spinning one of its braids in its bear-gloved arms. The braid shot out towards Cinder, wrapping around her. Yang and her persona continued their flight over Surtr, with Locks' braid wrapped tightly around Cinder's body.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Surtr called, launching an fireball towards Yang and Locks, who landed on the other side.

"Fairest!" Weiss called, summoning her Persona. The mirror manifested in front of the fireball. The lipstick-covered lips blew a kiss, causing a giant wall of ice to appear between the fireball and the shadow hunters. As the fireball collided with the ice, the two forces exploded into a harmless mist.

Locks tugged on her hair, with Yang pulling as well. Cinder moved from the center of Surtr's body towards the edge, her body somehow unscathed despite being bathed in flame. Her eyes were wide open with fear and rage as she was slowly pulled from the fire.

"NO, I'M NOT DONE." She screamed from inside Surtr. Surtr's four arms grabbed the impossibly long golden hair wrapped around Cinder's body, and pulled. Yang barely let go in time as Locks went flying into the inferno, vanishing into a blue mist as the persona collided with Surtr's body.

"That almost worked!" Jaune said, looking to Yang and the others. "We just have to get her out in time!"

Surtr launched a series of flaming blasts to each hunter, who all managed to narrowly avoid being burnt alive. Then, Surtr's massive fist came down over Yang, slamming her into the ground. Yang let out a heavy sigh as her body collided with the floor. Surtr, then lifted Yang into the air, pulling her in front of Cindr, holding her by her long golden hair.

"NICE TRY." Surtr's charcoal-voice echoed. "BUT IT ENDS HERE." Surtr used all four hands to press against Yang's body. Yang let out a scream as each of Surtr's palms made of torrents of flame collided with her body, until she was entirely enveloped in fire. When Surtr pulled all four hands away, Yang was no more, and the ash of her body collapsed to the floor.

"Yang!" Ruby cried, running forward. "That was my sister!" She shouted, tears streaming down her face. She pulled the evoker to her head, and Big Bad manifested alongside her. Using a gust of wind, the two leapt straight towards Cinder-in-Surtr at lightning speed, scythe and claws at the ready. As they bulleted toward her, they were suddenly stopped short as two chains shot forth from two of Sutr's arms. They wrapped themselves around Ruby, who suddenly found herself unable to move.

"W-wait!" She cried, her face still wet with tears. "Don't!"

"TOO LATE." Surtr called, and using its other two hands, launched a torrent of flame that completely enveloped Ruby. Her Evoker was the only thing left, which dropped harmlessly to the floor with the clatter of metal on marble, letting off steam from the massive amount of heat that it was just subjected to.

"We have to keep going!" Weiss called out to Blake, who nodded in return. Weiss then called Fairest, who created a slick of ice that ended in a ramp heading straight towards Surtr. Wasting no time, Blake slid across the ice slick on the floor, gaining speed and momentum before finally reaching the ramp and flying straight towards Cinder.

In mid-air, Blake summoned Bête before her, who charged straight for Cinder, claws extended. Surtr placed its four arms in front of itself as Bête collided with its body, launching a furious assault of swipes. With each swipe, magma spilled from Surtr's arms, creating a waterfall of magma that Blake, momentum still carrying her, collided with. Bête suddenly vanished as, upon colliding with the magma flow, Blake was no more.

Weiss stood alone staring down Surtr, her rapier drawn, looking defiantly up at the giant monster that had just destroyed her friends. Her ponytail flew in the air behind her, the edges of her dress flapping in the wind as the waves of heat washed off of Surtr.

"WELL, SCHNEE GIRL." Surtr called, "YOUR TURN." Surtr's four hands came into the center of its body again, and began creating a swirling ball of fire, which Surtr then launched straight at Weiss. Once again, Weiss summoned Fairest, creating the wall of ice between herself and Surtr – only to find one of Surtr's chains launched over the wall and straight for her. The chain wrapped around Weiss's waist, pulling her violently through her own ice-wall and into the oncoming torrent of fire. The ice wall collapsed into nothingness… as did its creator after coming swiftly, unguarded, into contact with the fireball.

Jaune sat, breathing heavily as Surtr lowered its body towards him. He was kneeling looking up at Surtr with his blade in his hand. Cinder, in the middle of the torrent of flame, gave him a smile as she crossed her arms, the torrent of flames surrounding her creating a face for Surtr that mimicked her own features.

"WELL, WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?" She said through Surtr's voice. Jaune realized that although he could hear the charcoal-like voice of Surtr echoing through the room, he could make out Cinder's voice underneath it.

"Hey," he said, shoulders heaving. "We came here to beat Jor… Ger… you know, the snake guy." His whole upper body seemed to move with every breath as he was clearly putting in effort to keep himself up. "I'd say… that's a win for us." He looked up at her, smiling through the pained breathing.

"I SUPPOSE THAT IS TRUE." Cinder-Surtr mocked. "PERHAPS YOU DESERVE MERCY." Surtr leaned back, letting out a large chuckle. All four hands came together in front of Cinder once more, creating a gargantuan ball of flame just like they did for Weiss. "SHAME THAT WE DON'T ALWAYS GET WHAT WE DESERVE."

"I think…" Jaune said, gasping for breath as he spoke, "that you're about to."

There was a split second of confusion on Cinder's face as she looked down to see a golden braid of hair wrapped around her face. Where Jaune was sitting only moments before sat Emerald, an Evoker to her head. Scheherazade's textile body was floating behind her, the gem in her hand letting of a myriad of colors of light. Emerald was dripping with sweat, breathing heavily, but smiling despite it.

From behind Cinder stood Locks, numerous golden braids of hair extending into Surtr's body, both of her hands gripping one braid. Beside her, Yang gripped a braid as well. Ruby was pulling on one with Big Bad beside her, using its massive maw to pull on the strand. Blake and Bête gripped another, as did Weiss with Fairest beside her. Fairest had manifested a pair of hands out of ice, and the pair of lips and eyes on her face looked strained as the ice-arms pulled. Finally, at the front of them all stood Jaune, whose holster was empty, but his hands were full of Locks' golden rope-like hair.

"One!" Jaune called, tugging once on one of the ropes that was tied to Cinder.

Surtr let out a roar, and all four hands reached toward Emerald.

"Two!" Jaune shouted, planting his feet and adjusting his grip. The rest of the Shadow Hunters followed suit.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Surtr's face changed from confusion into fury as the entire spinning torrent of flame that was its body reached desperately to drag Emerald with it.

"THREE!" The Shadow Hunters cried out, and with one massive yank they pulled Cinder from the center of Surtr's body. Cinder came flying backward into the group, landing in a pile amidst the Shadow Hunters. As she did so, the fire that made up Surtr's body vanished, disappearing into a blue mist around Emerald who –tired but unscathed – let out a deep sigh and slumped over onto the floor.

The group immediately moved to surround Cinder, who let out a violent series of coughs. She moved to lift herself off the ground, only to find Weiss's rapier underneath her chin.

"I wouldn't try it if I were you." Weiss said, the other Shadow Hunters gathered behind her.

Without warning, the floor began to shake violently, and one of the golden columns supporting the chamber collapsed to the ground next to the gathered Hunters.

"W-wait, what's going on?" Blake said, eyes darting left and right.

"You got what you wanted." Cinder said, forlorn. She gazed off in the distance. "The Grimm Hour's over."

Each of the Shadow Hunters looked at each other with wide-eyed panic. Another column fell, this one collapsing over the summoning circle that had called Jormangandr. The massive column completely obscured the door that the group had used as an exit from view.

Emerald snapped up, seeing what was happening, and rushed over to the rest of the Hunters. She patted her pockets, seemingly coming up empty. Then she looked over the gathered Hunters and swallowed hard.

"I forgot." Emerald said, looking down.

"Forgot what?" Ruby said, glancing around. "Can't you just use that rainbow gem to get us out of here?" She shouted over the shaking of the ground. The floor was disappearing around them, collapsing into nothingness.

"I gave my Bifrost gem to the red-head."

As if on queue, a bright multicolored light enveloped the area, blinding the Shadow Hunters. When the light faded, there stood Pyrrha. She was standing in her battle gear, spear at her side as she looked over the Shadow Hunters. She looked at the gathered group, smiled a teary eyed smile, and looked into Jaune's eyes. Jaune's face opened wide in shock as he saw Pyrrha hold the gem aloft once more. It started dim, the light growing from the gem, before forming another column of rainbow colored light. The Hunters closed their eyes in response to the dazzling brightness enveloping them. As the light dissipated and they vanished from sight, what was left of the chamber vanished into utter darkness, leaving nothing behind of Muspell or the shadows that inhabited it.


End file.
